Nearly 40% of high school seniors have used illicit drugs in the past year, a stark reality that underscores a hidden epidemic unfolding in plain sight.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, 15.4% of 8th-grade students reported using any illicit drug in the past year, according to Monitoring the Future survey data
- Among 10th graders in 2022, past-year illicit drug use reached 29.8%, a slight increase from prior years per MTF
- 12th graders showed 39.1% past-year illicit drug use in 2022, the highest among secondary school levels, MTF data
- In 2022, daily marijuana use among 12th graders reached 6.3%, a record high per MTF
- Past-year marijuana use for 10th graders was 29.2% in 2022, MTF data
- 8th-grade marijuana past-month use: 3.3% in 2022, MTF
- Among 12th-grade males, past-year marijuana use was 23.1% compared to 18.2% for females in 2022, MTF data
- Hispanic high school students reported 25.4% past-30-day marijuana use vs. 18.9% White students, YRBS 2021
- Urban teens aged 12-17 had 32.1% illicit drug use past year vs. 26.4% rural, NSDUH 2021
- From 2012 to 2022, 12th-grade marijuana past-year use increased from 15.4% to 20.6%, MTF trend
- Nicotine vaping among 12th graders rose from 3.4% in 2017 to 13.5% past month in 2022, MTF
- Alcohol past-month use 8th graders declined from 7.7% in 2012 to 2.7% in 2022, MTF
- Teens using marijuana report 2.5x higher depression rates, MTF analysis
- Past-year opioid misusers 12-17: 3.3% had substance use disorder vs. 1.1% non-users, NSDUH 2021
- High school marijuana users 1.8x more likely to attempt suicide, YRBS 2021
Teen drug use remains a serious issue, with marijuana, vaping, and alcohol being the most common substances involved.
Associated Risks and Consequences
- Teens using marijuana report 2.5x higher depression rates, MTF analysis
- Past-year opioid misusers 12-17: 3.3% had substance use disorder vs. 1.1% non-users, NSDUH 2021
- High school marijuana users 1.8x more likely to attempt suicide, YRBS 2021
- Vapers past month: 25% experienced anxiety symptoms vs. 15% non-vapers, CDC data
- Binge drinking teens: 40% higher risk of motor vehicle crashes, CDC
- Daily cannabis use linked to 2x cannabis use disorder in teens, NIDA
- Prescription drug misusers 12th graders: 15.2% met SUD criteria vs. 4.8%, MTF
- 35% of teen alcohol users report family conflict increase, SAMHSA
- Nicotine vaping associated with 3.2x odds of future cigarette smoking, JAMA Pediatrics
- Illicit drug use correlates with 28% higher school dropout risk, CDC YRBS
- Teens misusing opioids: 12x higher overdose risk than adults per volume, CDC
- Marijuana use past year: 4.1x odds of poor academic performance, MTF
- Vaping teens 1.5x more likely to use marijuana within year, MTF longitudinal
- 22% of binge drinking high schoolers report sexual assault victimization, YRBS
- Hallucinogen users: 18% emergency room visits related to psych effects, DAWN data
- Inhalant abuse in teens leads to 20% sudden death risk per use episode, NIDA
- Cocaine-using teens 5x higher cardiovascular issues early onset, NIH
- 47% of teen SUD cases involve polysubstance use, NSDUH
- Alcohol use before 15: 4x addiction risk by adulthood, NIAAA
- Frequent vapers: 30% impaired lung function vs. 8% non-users, CDC
- Drug-using teens 3.7x more violent behavior incidents, YRBS
Associated Risks and Consequences Interpretation
The statistics paint a starkly unfunny picture: teen drug use isn't a rite of passage but a Russian roulette of depression, disorder, and derailed futures.
Demographic Breakdowns
- Among 12th-grade males, past-year marijuana use was 23.1% compared to 18.2% for females in 2022, MTF data
- Hispanic high school students reported 25.4% past-30-day marijuana use vs. 18.9% White students, YRBS 2021
- Urban teens aged 12-17 had 32.1% illicit drug use past year vs. 26.4% rural, NSDUH 2021
- Female 8th graders vaping nicotine past month: 5.8% vs. 4.6% males, 2022 MTF
- Black high school students: 12.3% past-month alcohol use vs. 22.1% White, YRBS 2021
- 10th-grade females binge drinking past two weeks: 7.2% vs. 10.5% males, 2022 MTF
- LGBTQ+ high school students: 41.2% past-year marijuana use vs. 21.8% straight peers, YRBS 2021
- Low-income teens (family poverty level): 35.7% illicit drug use past year vs. 24.3% high-income, NSDUH 2021
- Asian American high schoolers: 9.4% past-month vaping vs. 14.2% overall, YRBS 2021
- 12th-grade males prescription opioid misuse: 5.1% vs. 3.5% females, 2022 MTF
- Native American teens 12-17: 22.8% past-year marijuana vs. 15.9% national avg, NSDUH 2021
- 8th-grade girls alcohol past year: 13.2% vs. 11.8% boys, 2022 MTF
- Students with poor grades (D/F avg): 48.3% past-year drug use vs. 22.1% A students, MTF 2022
- Non-college-bound 12th graders: 45.6% illicit drug use vs. 32.4% college-bound, MTF 2022
- Southern U.S. high schoolers: 16.2% binge drinking vs. 11.8% Northeast, YRBS 2021
- 10th-grade Hispanic students: 18.4% past-month alcohol vs. 14.2% non-Hispanic White, MTF 2022
- Teens in two-parent households: 24.7% drug use vs. 38.5% other households, NSDUH 2021
- Male high school athletes: 28.6% past-year marijuana vs. 19.3% non-athletes, YRBS 2021
- 12th-grade Black students: 2.1% cocaine past year vs. 3.4% White, MTF 2022
- Obese teens more likely: 31.2% vaping vs. 22.4% normal weight, YRBS 2021
- Immigrant teens: 14.6% illicit drug use vs. 28.3% U.S.-born, NSDUH 2021
- 8th-grade religious teens: 18.2% lifetime drug use vs. 25.7% non-religious, MTF 2022
- 10th-grade females hallucinogen use: 3.2% vs. 2.8% males, 2022 MTF
Demographic Breakdowns Interpretation
While the specifics vary—from gender to geography to grades—these statistics paint a consistent, unsettling portrait: a teenager's likelihood of using substances often mirrors the specific pressures, disparities, and systemic inequities they navigate, rather than any simple, universal "teenage rebellion."
Prevalence Rates
- In 2022, 15.4% of 8th-grade students reported using any illicit drug in the past year, according to Monitoring the Future survey data
- Among 10th graders in 2022, past-year illicit drug use reached 29.8%, a slight increase from prior years per MTF
- 12th graders showed 39.1% past-year illicit drug use in 2022, the highest among secondary school levels, MTF data
- The 2021 NSDUH reported that 29.6% of youth aged 12-17 used illicit drugs in the past year
- CDC's YRBS 2021 found 22.5% of high school students used marijuana in the past 30 days
- 8.1% of 8th graders used marijuana in the past year in 2022, per MTF
- Past-month marijuana use among 10th graders was 15.6% in 2022, MTF survey
- 20.6% of 12th graders reported past-year marijuana use in 2022, highest recorded level, MTF
- NSDUH 2020: 15.5% of adolescents aged 12-17 initiated marijuana use in the past year
- Lifetime marijuana use among high school students was 36.8% in YRBS 2021
- 5.2% of 8th graders vaped nicotine in past 30 days in 2022, MTF
- 12.3% of 10th graders reported past-month vaping in 2022, MTF data
- 13.5% of 12th graders vaped in past 30 days, 2022 MTF
- Alcohol use past year for 12-17 year olds was 45.3% in NSDUH 2021
- Binge drinking among high schoolers was 14.8% past month, YRBS 2021
- 2.7% of 8th graders used alcohol in past 30 days in 2022, lowest in decades, MTF
- 16.4% of 10th graders past-month alcohol use, 2022 MTF
- 27.6% of 12th graders drank alcohol past month in 2022, MTF
- Prescription opioid misuse past year among 12th graders: 4.3% in 2022, MTF
- Any prescription drug misuse by high school students: 12.4% lifetime, YRBS data
- Inhalant use past year for 8th graders: 3.9% in 2022, MTF
- Hallucinogen use past year among 12th graders: 5.6% in 2022, MTF
- Cocaine use past year 12th graders: 2.4%, 2022 MTF
- Heroin use lifetime among teens 12-17: 0.6%, NSDUH 2021
- Methamphetamine past year use: 0.3% for high schoolers, YRBS
- 21.2% of high school students reported current cigarette use or vaping, YRBS 2021
- NSDUH 2021: 10.2% of 12-17 year olds used tobacco products past month
- MTF 2022: 1.8% of 12th graders used synthetic marijuana past year
- 4.1% of 10th graders used cough medicine to get high past year, 2022 MTF
- Lifetime illicit drug use among 8th graders: 20.5% in 2022, MTF
Prevalence Rates Interpretation
While the numbers show a clear and alarming graduation from experimentation to habit as teens progress through school, the slight silver lining is that today's eighth-graders seem marginally wiser than their older peers, though that's a bit like praising a sinking ship for having a slow leak.
Substance-Specific Usage
- In 2022, daily marijuana use among 12th graders reached 6.3%, a record high per MTF
- Past-year marijuana use for 10th graders was 29.2% in 2022, MTF data
- 8th-grade marijuana past-month use: 3.3% in 2022, MTF
- NSDUH 2021: 18.7% of youth 12-17 used marijuana past year
- YRBS 2021: 30.7% of high school students ever used marijuana
- Frequent marijuana use (20+ occasions past year) among 12th graders: 10.9% in 2022, MTF
- Edibles use past year among 12th graders: 11.2% in 2022, MTF
- Vaping marijuana past year 12th graders: 14.8% in 2022, MTF survey
- Alcohol initiation before age 15 among teens: 24.6% lifetime, CDC data
- Past-month heavy alcohol use (5+ days) 12th graders: 3.8% in 2022, MTF
- Binge drinking (5+ drinks) past two weeks for 10th graders: 8.9%, 2022 MTF
- NSDUH 2021: 7.4% of 12-17 year olds binge drank past month
- Nicotine vaping past year among high schoolers: 27.5% in YRBS 2021
- Frequent nicotine vaping (20+ days past month) high school: 7.1%, YRBS 2021
- Prescription stimulants misused past year 12th graders: 5.3% in 2022, MTF
- Opioid misuse (narcotics other than heroin) past year 12th: 3.3%, 2022 MTF
- LSD use past year 12th graders: 3.5% in 2022, MTF
- MDMA (ecstasy) past year 12th graders: 2.7%, 2022 MTF
- Cocaine past month 12th graders: 0.7% in 2022, MTF data
- Heroin past year use among 12th graders: 0.4%, stable low, 2022 MTF
- Inhalants past year 8th graders: 4.0% in 2022, MTF
- Misuse of Adderall past year 10th graders: 4.3%, 2022 MTF
- Cough medicine misuse past year 8th graders: 2.1%, 2022 MTF
- Synthetic cannabinoids past year 12th graders: 1.3% in 2022, MTF
- Cigarette smoking past month high school students: 5.8% in YRBS 2021
Substance-Specific Usage Interpretation
While marijuana and nicotine vaping appear to be staging a mainstream coup in high school, the persistently low numbers for harder substances suggest that even rebellious teens still wisely draw the line at ruining their lives before they’ve even begun them.
Temporal Trends
- From 2012 to 2022, 12th-grade marijuana past-year use increased from 15.4% to 20.6%, MTF trend
- Nicotine vaping among 12th graders rose from 3.4% in 2017 to 13.5% past month in 2022, MTF
- Alcohol past-month use 8th graders declined from 7.7% in 2012 to 2.7% in 2022, MTF
- Lifetime cigarette smoking high schoolers dropped from 36.8% in 2011 to 18.9% in 2021 YRBS
- NSDUH shows past-year illicit drug use 12-17 stable at ~29% from 2015-2021
- Marijuana daily use 12th graders from 2.9% in 2012 to 6.3% in 2022, sharp rise MTF
- Binge drinking high school past 30 days: 17.2% in 2011 to 14.8% 2021, YRBS decline
- Prescription opioid misuse 12th graders fell from 9.5% in 2012 to 4.3% 2022, MTF
- Vaping any substance past year 10th graders: 37.3% in 2018 peak to 25.2% 2022, MTF
- Heroin use past year 12th graders stable low 0.3-0.4% 2012-2022, MTF
- Inhalant use 8th graders down from 8.7% 2012 to 3.9% 2022 past year, MTF
- LSD past year 12th graders fluctuated 2.6% 2012 to 3.5% 2022, MTF
- Alcohol initiation age average dropped slightly to 14.3 years in recent NSDUH
- Cocaine past year 10th graders from 2.2% 2012 to 1.5% 2022 decline, MTF
- Marijuana past 30 days high school: 15.7% 2011 to 22.5% 2021 rise, YRBS
- Nicotine pouch use emerging: 2.1% 12th graders 2022, new trend MTF
- Fentanyl awareness: 45% 12th graders heard bad news 2022 vs. rising overdoses, MTF
- Overall illicit drug use 12th graders stable ~39% past decade, MTF 2012-2022
- Vaping THC past month 12th graders peaked 14.1% 2019 down to 8.2% 2022, MTF
- Cigarette daily use 12th graders 1.2% 2022 vs. 10% 2012 dramatic decline, MTF
Temporal Trends Interpretation
The kids are swapping keg stands for vape pens and old-fashioned cigarettes for high-THC weed, trading one set of risks for another while dutifully avoiding most prescription pills and heroin.