The percentage of teens who reported using illegal substances in 2023 continued to hold steady below pre-pandemic levels reported in 2020, with 10,9% of eighth graders, 19,8% of 10th graders elementary and 31,2% of 12th graders to report any illicit drug use in the past year, according to the latest Monitoring the Future survey results. Reported use for nearly all substances dropped dramatically between 2020 and 2021, following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated changes such as school closures and social distancing. In 2022, the use of most reported substances among teenagers remained stable at these lower levels, and these latest figures show that this trend has continued into 2023.
The Monitoring the Future study is being conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.
The 2023 figures continue to document stable or declining trends in illicit drug use among youth over many years. Importantly, however, other research reported a dramatic increase in overdose deaths among teenagers between 2010 and 2021, which remained high through 2022 according to an NIDA analysis of CDC and census data. This increase is largely attributed to illegal fentanyl, a powerful synthetic narcotic, contaminating the supply of counterfeit pills that look like prescription drugs. Taken together, these data suggest that while drug use is not becoming more common among young people, it is becoming more dangerous.
“Research has shown that delaying youth substance use initiation, even by a year, can reduce substance use for the rest of their lives. We may be seeing this play out in real time,” said Nora Volkow, MD, director of NIDA. "This trend is reassuring. However, it remains vital that we continue to educate young people about the dangers and harms of substance use in an open and honest way, highlighting that illegal pills and other substances can contain deadly fentanyl.”
The Monitoring the Future survey is given annually to eighth-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students who self-report their substance use behavior over various time periods, including the past 30 days, the past 12 months, and lifetime. The survey also documents students' perceptions of harm, rejection of drug use, and perceived availability of drugs. The results of the survey are published in the same year that the data is collected. From February to June 2023, Monitoring the Future researchers collected 22.318 surveys from students enrolled in 235 public and private schools in the United States.
When analyzing the data by specific drugs, the survey found that teens more often reported using alcohol, vaping nicotine, and cannabis in the past year, and levels generally decreased or remained stable with decreased use reported in 2022. Compared to levels that reported in 2022, data reported in 2023 shows:
Alcohol use remained stable for eighth and 10th graders, with 15,1% and 30,6% reporting use in the past year respectively, and decreased for 12th graders, with 45,7% reporting use in previous year (compared to 51,9% the previous year).
Nicotine vaping remained stable for eighth graders, with 11,4% reporting nicotine vaping in the past year. It decreased in the older grades, from 20,5% to 17,6% in 10th grade and from 27,3% to 23,2% in 12th grade.
Cannabis use remained consistent across the three grades surveyed, with 8,3% of eighth graders, 17,8% of 10th graders, and 29,0% of 12th graders reporting cannabis use in the previous year. Of note, 6,5% of eighth graders, 13,1% of 10th graders, and 19,6% of 12th graders reported vaping cannabis in the past year, reflecting a consistent trend and in the three classes.
Use of Delta-8-THC (a psychoactive substance found in the plant Cannabis sativa, two varieties of which are marijuana and cannabis) was first measured in 2023, with 11,4% of 12th graders reporting use in the past year. Beginning in 2024, eighth and tenth graders will also be asked about using the Delta-8.
Any use of illegal drugs other than marijuana also remained consistent across the three grades surveyed, with 4,6% of eighth graders, 5,1% of 10th graders, and 7,4% of of 12th graders to report any use of illegal drugs other than marijuana in the past year. These data are based on long-term trends that document low and fairly stable reported illicit substance use among adolescents – including past-year cocaine, heroin, and prescription drug abuse in general.
Drug use other than heroin (including Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet, etc.) declined among 12th graders, with 1,0% reporting use within the past year (matching the all-time low reported in 2021 and down from a high of 9,5% in 2004).
Abstinence or no use of marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine increased for 12th graders, with 62,6% reporting abstinence from any use of these substances in the past month. This percentage remained stable for eighth and 10th graders at 87,0%
"For 49 consecutive years, Monitoring the Future research has closely tracked changes in substance use trends among youth, helping to identify and track emerging trends of public health relevance," said Richard A. Miech, Ph.D. ., team leader of the Monitoring the Future study at the University of Michigan. “This year's addition of a measure to assess delta-8 use is an example of this, and we were surprised to see such high levels of use among 12th graders. Moving forward, as policies and access to this drug change, it will be important to continue to monitor the use of this drug in adolescents."
Although the sample size of 22.318 respondents in 2023 was lower than the sample size of a typical pre-pandemic data collection, the results were gathered from a nationally representative sample and the data were statistically weighted to give national numbers. This year, 13% of students surveyed identified as Black or African American, 1% as American Indian or Alaska Native, 3% as Asian, 25% as Hispanic, 1% as Middle Eastern, 41% as white and 16% as more than one of the previous categories. The survey also asks respondents to identify themselves as male, female, other or prefer not to answer. For the 2023 survey, 48% of students identified as male, 47% as female, 1% as other, and 4% chose not to answer.
Monitoring the Future researchers note that schools choose to participate in the survey, and some schools that had historically participated opted out in the years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. All participating students took the survey online – either on a tablet or computer – with 98% of respondents taking the survey in person at school in 2023. Therefore, students with less engagement at school – a known risk factor for using drugs – may have been less likely to participate in the research.
The 2023 Monitoring the Future data tables highlighting the survey results are available online from the University of Michigan.
For more information about substance and mental health treatment programs in your area, call the toll-free and confidential National Helpline 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit www.FindTreatment.gov.
About the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): NIDA is a component of the National Institute
article source https://nida.nih.gov/
The Flesh-Eating Drug Taking Over America | Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9slGGWXc9oI
The Taboo Room With Aaron S video source
photo rebcenter-moscow, https://pixabay.com
From the journalistic team of Greek News and Radio FL
