Even as more states have legalized marijuana, rates of teen use are on the decline. There was also a significant drop in perceptions by youth that cannabis is easy to access in 2024 despite the widening adult-use marketplace, according to the latest federally funded national survey published on Tuesday.
The Monitoring the Future (MTF) Survey, which is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), revealed an “unprecedented” trend, with rates of youth drug use overall going largely unchanged after falling to historic lows during the coronavirus pandemic, NIDA Director Nora Volkow said.
For cannabis reform advocates, the latest findings reinforce the argument that enacting regulated marijuana markets for adults—with safeguards in place such as ID checks at secure retailers—ultimately deters youth access.
To that point, cannabis use among 8th, 10th and 12 graders is now lower than before the first states started enacting adult-use legalization laws in 2012. There are currently 24 states where recreational marijuana is legal.
While past surveys have found that more adults are using cannabis amid the legalization movement, that hasn’t been the case with teens.
“Cannabis use remained stable for the younger grades, with 7.2 percent of eighth graders and 15.9 percent of
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