Ann Arbor, MI: Self-reported marijuana use continues to fall among younger teens, according to nationwide survey data compiled by the University of Michigan.
Results from the 2016 edition of the Monitoring the Future survey find that marijuana use by 8th-graders and 10th-graders is declining year by year. Further, a greater percentage of younger teens now say that their ability to obtain marijuana is more difficult than ever before. Among 12th graders, marijuana use patterns have held steady since 2011.
Approximately 50,000 students are surveyed annually as part of the University of Michigan study.
Since 1997, self-reported lifetime use of cannabis has fallen 44 percent among 8th-graders, 30 percent among 10th-graders, and ten percent among 12th-graders. Overall, teens’ reported use of alcohol and/or any illicit substance aside from marijuana is at a historic low.
Separate survey data released this week by the US Department of Health and Human Services also reports that rates of marijuana use by teens has fallen in Colorado and Washington between the years 2013 and 2015.
Previous federally funded surveys by the US Centers for Disease Control and others have similarly reported that changes in statewide marijuana laws are not associated with rising levels of youth use.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org.