Fewer teenagers drank or smoked marijuana in 2023 and most said they had never even tasted alcohol, according to a federally funded study.
An annual study from the University of Michigan, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, found alcohol and drug use declined among eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders from last year. Researchers surveyed 22,318 teens whose schools opted into the study.
Teen use of all substances “decreased dramatically” between 2020 and 2021, when COVID-19 school closures and social distancing kept young people home, the study noted. Those restrictions created a one-year delay in teen consumption patterns that researchers said could lower future trajectories of substance abuse for years to come.
Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute for Drug Abuse, said the findings confirm that historically low drug use among teens “persists despite the reopening of schools.”
“It is possible that teenagers might be relying [on] other reinforcers such as video gaming, social media and other apps as alternatives to drug use, but this is speculative at this point,” Dr. Volkow, a psychiatrist specializing in addiction, told The Washington Times.
In 2023, just 10.9% of eighth-graders, 19.8% of 10th-graders, and 31.2% of 12th-graders reported any illicit drug use in the past year — a significant drop from previous years.
By comparison, the study noted that adults aged 35 to 50 “continued a long-term upward trajectory in past-year use of marijuana and hallucinogens to reach all-time highs in 2022.”
Some experts said those findings confirm more than a decade of research showing that recent generations of teens have become more risk-averse as they observe the fallout from growing opioid addiction rates.
American teens have become less likely than earlier generations to engage in risky “drug and alcohol use, as well as sexual and antisocial behavior,” said psychologist Keith Humphreys, a Stanford University addiction researcher not involved in the study.
“The horrifying addiction and death rates among illicit drug users may be reducing young people’s willingness to try drugs,” said Mr. Humphreys, who tracks the opioid crisis.
Overall, the study shows teen alcohol and drug consumption have followed a downward trajectory since the 1990s.
Teens have become particularly less likely to imbibe beer, wine or liquor in the digital age.
Besides declines in drinking rates over the previous month and year, this year’s study found that 78.5% of eighth-graders, 64.2% of 10th-graders and 47.2% of 12th-graders had never consumed alcohol.
That’s an increase of about 3% for eighth-graders, 5.3% for 10th-graders and 8.9% for 12th-graders from last year’s study. It’s also a 24%, 42% and 35% surge in non-drinkers, respectively, over the past decade of annual studies.
Reached for comment, some drunk driving awareness groups credited their public education outreach to parents for the drop.
“We’d like to attribute it to adults who care and who want to keep kids safe,” said Leslie Kimball, executive director of the advocacy group Responsibility.org. “We found that conversations between parents and kids have increased by over 30% over the past 20 years and in that same period, underage drinking declined by more than half. We are very proud of that progress.”
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.