The 42nd annual Monitoring the Future study by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research reports that teenager’s use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco declined significantly in 2016 to rates that are the lowest since the 1990s. Teenage drug use is on the decline.
After this blog’s tragic reports regarding the heroin epidemic sweeping the country, brought on by the wanton prescribing of oxycontin and other opiate-based pain killers by America’s medical establishment, it is a relief to read this encouraging report.
MONITORING THE FUTURE- 2016 FINDINGS
For 42 years, researchers at the University of Michigan have surveyed 45,000 students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grade regarding their use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.- In 2016 there was a significant decline in narcotic drug use among 8th and 10th graders. This period of decline follows several years of increased use by all age groups.
- Prescription narcotics have presented a serious problem for the country in recent years. Four out of ten teenagers indicated that they got illegal opiates from “a prescription pad I had.” The use of these drugs outside of medical supervision is now in decline, at least among high school seniors. In 2004, a high proportion of 12th graders (9.5% or nearly 1 in 10) reported using prescription narcotics. Today that percentage is down by one-half to 4.8%. “Fewer are risking overdosing as teenagers and, hopefully, more will remain abstainers as they pass into their twenties,” says Lloyd Johnston, the chief researcher at the Institute for Social Research.
- Among 8th graders heroin use declined from 1.6% in 1996 to 0.3% in 2016.
- The percentage of students in all three grades who reported using prescription amphetamines and other stimulants has fallen considerably in 2016.
| 8th Grade | 10th Grade | 12th Grade | ||
| 2015 - 9% | 2015 - 12% | 2015 - 11% | ||
| 2016 - 3.5% | 2016 - 6.1% | 2016 - 6.7% |
- Synthetic marijuana continued its rapid decline in use among teens since it was first measured in 2011.
- The Ecstasy epidemic, which peaked in 2001, has generally been declining among teens since about 2010. In 2016, it again decreased significantly in all three grades.
- Bath salts use remained quite low – at 1.3% or less in all grades.
- Even the use of alcohol by adolescents is trending downward in 2016. For all three grades, both annual and monthly prevalence of alcohol use are at historic lows over the life of the study.
- Binge drinking has fallen off at all grade levels.
Thank you all.
