ANN ARBOR, MI — Self-reported rates of past year marijuana use by teens increased 1.3 percent from 2016 to 2017, but remain well below past years’ levels, according to survey data released by the University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future report.
“When combining responses in all three grades (8th grade, 10th grade, and 12th grade), data suggest past year marijuana use is up slightly to 23.9 percent, from 22.6 percent last year, but [are] similar to 2015 rates,” summarized the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funds the survey.
Since 2012, when Colorado and Washington became the first two states to regulate the adult use and sale of cannabis, overall rates of teen use nationwide have generally fallen – continuing a trend that began in the mid-1990s.
Prior studies have reported that adolescents are less likely to abuse cannabis and are also less likely to gain access to it today than they were a decade ago.
State-specific data from legalization states – including Colorado, Oregon, and Washington – indicate that teen marijuana use in those jurisdictions has either remained stable or has declined following the enactment of adult use regulations.
Tags: marijuana legalization, Monitoring the Future, Monitoring the Future Survey, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIDA, survey, teen marijuana use, University of Michigan
