While alarming statistics reveal that nearly one in six 12th graders used an illicit drug in the past year, the full picture of teen substance use is far more complex and extends far beyond just marijuana and alcohol.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, 15.6% of 12th graders reported using any illicit drug in the past year, according to the Monitoring the Future survey
- Among 10th graders in 2022, past-year marijuana use was reported by 29.6%, per Monitoring the Future data
- 8th graders showed a past-month vaping nicotine rate of 5.5% in 2022, from Monitoring the Future
- Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among teens, with 15.5% past-year use ages 12-17 in 2021 per NSDUH
- Nicotine vaping past 30 days: 10% high school students 2021 CDC YRBS
- Alcohol past month use 18% among 12-17 year olds NSDUH 2021
- Girls aged 12-17 have higher prescription drug misuse rates than boys at 14% vs 12% NSDUH 2021
- Non-Hispanic white teens have highest marijuana use at 17% past year ages 12-17 NSDUH 2021
- Urban teens 12-17 show 12% illicit drug use past year vs 9% rural NSDUH 2021
- Among teens using marijuana daily, 25% also use nicotine products MTF 2022
- Teen marijuana users 2x more likely to develop cannabis use disorder by adulthood NIDA
- Vaping nicotine linked to 30% higher depression rates in high schoolers YRBS 2021
- Past-year illicit drug use among 12th graders dropped from 25% in 2012 to 20% in 2022 MTF
- Teen marijuana past 30-day use declined 40% from 2012 peak MTF 2022
- Nicotine vaping peaked 2020 at 19% high school then fell to 10% 2021 YRBS
Teen drug use includes significant marijuana, vaping, and alcohol consumption despite some declines.
Demographics
- Girls aged 12-17 have higher prescription drug misuse rates than boys at 14% vs 12% NSDUH 2021
- Non-Hispanic white teens have highest marijuana use at 17% past year ages 12-17 NSDUH 2021
- Urban teens 12-17 show 12% illicit drug use past year vs 9% rural NSDUH 2021
- High school males report 7% cocaine use lifetime vs 4% females YRBS 2021
- 16-17 year olds have 25% past-year marijuana use vs 10% for 12-13 NSDUH 2021
- Hispanic teens vaping nicotine 12% past 30 days vs 9% white CDC 2021
- Teens from low-income families (<$25k) 18% alcohol past month vs 14% high-income NSDUH 2021
- LGBTQ+ high school students 35% marijuana use vs 22% straight YRBS 2021
- Black teens lowest illicit drug use excluding marijuana at 8% past year 12-17 NSDUH 2021
- 12th grade females vaping marijuana 8.5% past month vs 6% males MTF 2022
- Asian American teens lowest alcohol use 12% past year vs 30% white NSDUH 2021
- Suburban teens 11% prescription misuse vs 9% urban MTF data avg
- Teens with mental health issues 2x more likely to use drugs, 25% vs 12% NSDUH 2021
- Male 12th graders 12% binge drinking past 2 weeks vs 9% females MTF 2022
- Native American teens highest inhalant use 5% lifetime 12-17 NSDUH
- 10th grade boys 3% amphetamine misuse vs 2% girls MTF 2022
- Obese teens less likely to use alcohol 15% vs 20% normal weight YRBS 2021
- Teens in Northeast US highest ecstasy use 3.5% past year MTF 2022
- Female 8th graders higher tranquilizer misuse 2.5% vs 1.8% boys MTF 2022
- Pacific Islander teens vaping 15% past 30 days highest YRBS 2021
- Single-parent household teens 16% drug use vs 11% two-parent NSDUH 2021
- 12th graders in West region 35% alcohol past month highest MTF 2022
- Disabled teens 20% higher marijuana use YRBS 2021 data
- College-bound 12th graders lower illicit drug use 12% vs non 18% MTF 2022
- Immigrant teens lower drug use 9% vs US-born 14% NSDUH 2021
- Frequent video gamers 18% nicotine vaping vs 8% non-gamers YRBS 2021
Demographics Interpretation
These statistics paint a stark, nuanced portrait of a generation in which risk follows the fault lines of identity, geography, and circumstance, revealing that a teenager’s relationship with substances is less a simple choice and more a complex reflection of their access, pressures, and pain.
Drug Types
- Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among teens, with 15.5% past-year use ages 12-17 in 2021 per NSDUH
- Nicotine vaping past 30 days: 10% high school students 2021 CDC YRBS
- Alcohol past month use 18% among 12-17 year olds NSDUH 2021
- Prescription opioids misused by 7% of 12th graders lifetime MTF 2022
- MDMA/ecstasy past year 2.7% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Cocaine (powder) lifetime use 5.2% 12th graders 2022, MTF
- Inhalants past year 2.8% 8th graders 2022 MTF
- LSD past year 3.5% 12th graders 2022, MTF
- Methamphetamine lifetime 1.3% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Heroin lifetime use 1.9% 12th graders 2022, MTF
- Synthetic cannabinoids past year 1.0% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Benzodiazepines misused past year 4.3% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Cough medicine misuse for high past year 3.1% 12th graders 2022, MTF
- Salvia lifetime 4.4% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Amphetamines misused past year 5.6% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Crack cocaine lifetime 2.4% 12th graders 2022, MTF
- Mushrooms/psilocybin past year 4.1% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Bath salts/cathinones lifetime <1% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Steroids lifetime 1.2% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Nicotine pouches past year 8.1% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Fentanyl-laced pills awareness but use low, 1.5% suspected 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Delta-8 THC past year 11.5% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Ketamine lifetime 2.0% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- PCP lifetime <0.5% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Xanax/Alprazolam misused past year 5.2% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- OxyContin misused lifetime 3.8% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Vicodin lifetime misuse 5.7% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Adderall misused past year 10.3% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Ritalin misused lifetime 4.1% 12th graders 2022 MTF
Drug Types Interpretation
If your idea of extracurricular activities includes a statistically significant menu of risk, then the portrait of modern adolescence is painted in concerning shades of self-medication, experimental curiosity, and a perilous gamble with substances that range from the unfortunately familiar to the terrifyingly potent.
Health Impacts
- Among teens using marijuana daily, 25% also use nicotine products MTF 2022
- Teen marijuana users 2x more likely to develop cannabis use disorder by adulthood NIDA
- Vaping nicotine linked to 30% higher depression rates in high schoolers YRBS 2021
- Binge drinking teens 4x risk of alcohol dependence later CDC
- Opioid misuse in teens leads to 1 in 5 developing OUD within 2 years NIH
- Cocaine use associated with 40% increased heart issues in young users AHA
- LSD use correlates with 15% higher psychosis risk in vulnerable teens NIDA
- Inhalant abuse causes sudden death in 1/5 first-time teen users CDC
- Methamphetamine use in teens doubles stroke risk NIH
- Heroin overdose death rate among 15-24 rose 500% 1999-2020 CDC
- Daily cannabis vaping impairs lung function by 20% in teens study JAMA
- Prescription stimulant misuse raises heart attack risk 3x in adolescents AHA
- Teen ecstasy users 3x more likely to have serotonin syndrome NIH
- BZD misuse leads to overdose in 10% of teen ER visits SAMHSA
- Synthetic cannabis causes kidney failure in 25% hospitalized teens CDC
- Alcohol use before 15 triples addiction risk by 25 JAMA Pediatrics
- Nicotine addiction develops in 25% teen vapers within weeks NIDA
- Fentanyl in fake pills caused 70% teen opioid deaths 2021 CDC
- Chronic teen marijuana use shrinks brain volume 8% MRI study NIH
- Teen inhalant use linked to 50% higher cognitive deficits NIDA
- Delta-8 THC hospitalizations up 82% in teens 2021 Poison Control
- Cocaine teens 5x ER visits for chest pain CDC
- Meth psychosis persists 20% teen users long-term NIH
Health Impacts Interpretation
The teenage brain appears to be running a terrifying experiment where trying everything once might literally mean trying everything once.
Trends
- Past-year illicit drug use among 12th graders dropped from 25% in 2012 to 20% in 2022 MTF
- Teen marijuana past 30-day use declined 40% from 2012 peak MTF 2022
- Nicotine vaping peaked 2020 at 19% high school then fell to 10% 2021 YRBS
- Alcohol use past month 12th graders down 10% since 2010 MTF 2022
- Prescription opioid misuse halved from 10% to 4% 12th graders 2012-2022 MTF
- Cocaine use stable low 2% teens past decade NSDUH
- LSD use up 50% since 2017 among 12th graders MTF 2022
- Inhalant use down 60% since 1990s among 8th graders MTF
- Heroin use dropped 80% post-2016 MTF 12th graders
- Vaping any substance peaked 2019 then declined 25% YRBS
- Amphetamine misuse stable 5% decade MTF 2022
- Binge drinking down 25% 12th graders 2005-2022 MTF
- Synthetic marijuana use crashed from 10% to 1% 2011-2022 MTF
- Ecstasy/MDMA up from 1.5% to 3% 12th graders 2016-2022 MTF
- Cigarette smoking lifetime down 70% since 1991 MTF 12th graders
- Delta-8 THC emerged new 10% use 2022 MTF
- Tranquilizer misuse down 50% since 2002 MTF
- Overall illicit drug use lowest since 1991 for 8th graders MTF 2022
- Nicotine pouch use new up to 8% 12th graders 2022 MTF
- Teen overdose deaths up 94% 2019-2021 CDC NVSS
- Marijuana initiation age stable 17.5 years past decade NSDUH
- Fentanyl driving teen opioid deaths 80% increase 2019-2022 CDC
- Hallucinogen use rising post-COVID 12th graders MTF 2022
- Alcohol decline continues 15 years straight MTF
Trends Interpretation
While most teen substance use trends are promising, the alarming rise in overdose deaths and potent synthetics like fentanyl starkly reminds us that progress in one area can mask a deadly shift to more dangerous substances.
Usage Prevalence
- In 2022, 15.6% of 12th graders reported using any illicit drug in the past year, according to the Monitoring the Future survey
- Among 10th graders in 2022, past-year marijuana use was reported by 29.6%, per Monitoring the Future data
- 8th graders showed a past-month vaping nicotine rate of 5.5% in 2022, from Monitoring the Future
- Past-year hallucinogen use among 12th graders was 3.6% in 2022, Monitoring the Future survey
- 10th grade past-year cocaine use stood at 1.6% in 2022, per Monitoring the Future
- NSDUH 2021 data indicates 29.2% of youth aged 12-17 used alcohol in the past year
- Lifetime cigarette smoking among high school students was 11.3% in 2021, CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey
- Past-30-day binge drinking among 12-17 year olds was 5.6% in 2021 NSDUH
- 4.0% of 8th graders used marijuana in the past month in 2022, Monitoring the Future
- Past-year prescription opioid misuse among 12th graders was 4.3% in 2022, MTF
- 21.3% of high school students used marijuana ever in their lifetime per 2021 YRBS
- NSDUH reports 3.5% past-year heroin use initiation among 12-17 year olds in 2021
- 2.1% of 10th graders reported past-year methamphetamine use in 2022, MTF
- Past-month alcohol use among 12th graders was 29.1% in 2022, Monitoring the Future
- 1.8% lifetime inhalant use among 8th graders in 2022, MTF
- CDC 2021 YRBS: 5.9% of high schoolers used cocaine
- NSDUH 2021: 10.2% past-year illicit drug use excluding marijuana for 12-17
- 7.4% of 12th graders vaped marijuana in past month 2022, MTF
- Past-year synthetic marijuana use 1.0% among 12th graders 2022, MTF
- 3.2% of high school students injected drugs lifetime, 2021 YRBS
- NIDA reports 4% teen past-year ecstasy use average 2019-2022
- 14.7% of 12th graders used Adderall nonmedically past year 2022, MTF
- CDC: 29% high schoolers ever used marijuana 2021
- NSDUH: 1.4% past-year hallucinogen use 12-17 yo 2021
- 6.1% 10th graders past-month alcohol 2022, MTF
- 0.8% 12th graders past-year heroin use 2022, MTF
- Lifetime vaping any substance 39.1% high school 2021 YRBS
- Past-year tranquilizer misuse 2.6% 12th graders 2022, MTF
- NSDUH 2021: 2.3% cocaine use past year 12-17
Usage Prevalence Interpretation
While these statistics reveal a troubling landscape of teen experimentation, the true concern lies not just in the percentages but in the reality that behind each number is a young person navigating a minefield of poor choices, where a single misstep with substances like opioids or cocaine can rewrite their future far more dramatically than their algebra final.
Sources & References
- Reference 1MONITORINGTHEFUTUREmonitoringthefuture.orgVisit source
- Reference 2SAMHSAsamhsa.govVisit source
- Reference 3CDCcdc.govVisit source
- Reference 4NIDAnida.nih.govVisit source
- Reference 5HEARTheart.orgVisit source
- Reference 6JAMANETWORKjamanetwork.comVisit source
- Reference 7NCBIncbi.nlm.nih.govVisit source