Adolescent drug use continued to drop in 2024, building on and extending the historically large decreases that occurred during the pandemic onset in 2020.
“I expected adolescent drug use would rebound at least partially after the large declines that took place during the pandemic onset in 2020, which were among the largest ever recorded,” said Richard Miech, team lead of the Monitoring the Future study at U-M’s Institute for Social Research.
“Many experts in the field had anticipated that drug use would resurge as the pandemic receded and social distancing restrictions were lifted. As it turns out, the declines have not only lasted but have dropped further.”
Miech is a principal investigator of the Monitoring the Future Study, which annually surveys eighth, 10th and 12th grade students across the United States.