Call it the expected rebound that didn’t happen. After the pandemic, when youths could gather again, experts thought adolescent drug use would increase, since it had dropped when they were more isolated.
Instead, the use of alcohol, marijuana or nicotine cigarettes or e-cigarettes dropped, according to the annual Monitoring the Future study from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. The national annual survey includes students in eighth, 10th and 12th grade.
The survey defined abstention as no past 30-day use of marijuana, alcohol, or nicotine cigarettes or e-cigarettes. Alcohol, marijuana and nicotine vaping are the most common substance use by adolescents, per the study.
“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 in a news release. He led the research team.
