Experts confused but delighted by low rates of teen drug use

A new study has experts beaming with hope as it shows teen drug use at a record low, but they admit confusion as to why the trend is happening and how to ensure it continues.  

The annual national Monitoring the Future survey found the use of alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes and e-cigarettes among high schoolers is at its lowest level since the study began. Two-thirds of 12th graders in the survey, which included 24,000 students in total, said they haven't used any of those substances in the last 30 days, and 90 percent of eighth graders and 80 percent of 10th graders said the same.

That dovetails with other research, including from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found youth drug use fell from 2011-2021, with a particularly noticeable drop from 2019-2021.

But while the pandemic-era decrease was not surprising — teen substance use is typically a social phenomenon — what experts do find pleasantly perplexing is the lack of a rebound in the years since.

“Something unusual happened during the pandemic, and it'd be great to find out exactly what it was, to see if we could build on that in the future so that these levels continue to stay low,” said Richard Miech, research professor at the University of Michigan and co-investigator of the Monitoring the Future study. 

But at this moment, “we don't know” what is causing the sustained low numbers, he added. 

And of course the reduction in social and in-school time for young Americans has also come at a cost. Test scores in reading and math are down, while mental health problems are up: Studies found that anxiety and depression doubled among young people at the height of the pandemic.

“This reduction in face-to-face time is not necessarily a positive change. I think that reducing substance use rates in teens, or delaying the age when teens try substances, is a plus. But achieving that result in this particular way, with teens having less time together, is not all positive,” said Duncan Clark, professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

The depression spike seen during the pandemic among young people is “carrying on as well, and that may, in part, be the result of less in-person time together with friends and less fun activities. So, this reduction in time together is, I think, not really a good thing, but one byproduct of it may be some degree of an effect on reducing substance use," Clark added.

But Louis Pratt, a 19-year-old student and community engagement specialist with Students Against Destructive Decisions, credits some of the drop with “positive social norming," pointing to popular influencers such as Mr. Beast encouraging sober living and messages to young people that are not just “you’re going to vape and you’re going to die.” 

“It makes me proud of my peers, because we're headed in the right direction. I'm glad that people are making better decisions because I think we often underestimate our younger audiences,” Pratt said.

He emphasized the need to get young people involved in marketing their cohorts away from drugs and getting input from those in the target age group of what works and what doesn’t.  

“I see messages like ‘we have resources,’ ‘there are better things to do,’ because it's not talked about enough” in a positive way, he said. “Reinforcement like that is a lot better than the negatives and scaring people away.” 

“Let's have students help us craft campaigns that are going to other students,” Pratt added.

Regarding marijuana specifically, Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said, "It'd be a mistake to hinge this trend on the pandemic, because the trend lines were heading in that direction long before the pandemic was upon us, and they continued to head in that same direction post the pandemic."

Armentano pointed out that nearly 20 states now allow recreational marijuana, and that fears of legalization leading to a spike in teen use have failed to materialize.  

“I think we can make arguments that the state-regulated, age-gated system for the production and dispensing of marijuana has met one of its primary goals, and that's the key to get marijuana out of the hands of young people,” he said. “I think this data also suggests that the state legal marijuana markets have done a pretty good job disrupting the illicit, underground marketplace.” 

Regardless of the reasons behind it, experts applaud the reduction in teen substance use, saying even a delay in such experimentation makes a big difference.

“Older teens and young adults are more developmentally mature on average and typically have greater self-control. So, if we can delay the start of a person's substance use history, we typically see better outcomes, more control of substance use and less problems,” Clark said.