Teen substance use remains low but shows rising heroin and cocaine use
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor has released the results of their annual Monitoring the Future Survey highlighting self-reported drug use in U.S. teens in eighth-12th grade. Key findings are summarized in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) press release.
Teen drug use continues to stay relatively low, according to the results, however, heroin and cocaine use is rising among this group. Additional findings:
- Overall abstinence from marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine was stable compared to 2024. Most eighth graders surveyed abstained from these substances, with only 9% reporting use in the last month.
- Rates of teens partaking in alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine over 12 months were comparable to last year, with alcohol being the most used substance among each age group.
- 12th graders using “any illicit drug other than cannabis” over the last year rose by 0.5%, while numbers lowered in eighth and 10th graders.
- Intentional non-prescription fentanyl use rose slightly in each age group but still remain under 1%.
Richard A. Miech, PhD, team lead of the Monitoring the Future survey at the University of Michigan, told the NIH in a press statement, “The slight but significant increase we see in heroin and cocaine use warrants close monitoring. However, to put these current levels of use in context, they are leagues below what they were decades ago.”
