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Study: Teen Marijuana Use Declining as More States Legalize


As marijuana legalization expands throughout the United States, marijuana use by teens has either remained stable or decreased, according to the latest results of an annual survey from the National Institutes of Health.

The 2016 Monitoring the Future (MTF) annual survey continued to show a long-term decline in marijuana, alcohol, tobacco and prescription medication use among teens. Among eighth graders, marijuana use in the past month dropped significantly from 6.5 percent in 2015 to 5.4 percent in 2016. Daily use among eighth graders also dropped to 0.7 percent this year, down from 1.1 percent last year. Rates of marijuana use in the past year among 10th graders and high school seniors remained stable compared to 2015.

“I don’t have an explanation,” Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told U.S. News. “This is somewhat surprising. We had predicted – based on the changes in legalization, culture in the U.S., as well as decreasing perceptions among teenagers that marijuana was harmful – that [accessibility and use] would go up. But it hasn’t gone up.”

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