Teen substance use has declined to its lowest point since an annual nationwide survey began tracking abstinence in 2017. According to the 2024 Monitoring the Future survey, about two-thirds of 12th graders reported not using alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, or e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. Among 10th graders, 80% said they hadn’t used any of those substances recently, another record. Among 8th graders, 90% didn’t use any of them—a consistent result from the previous year.
Experts suggest that pandemic-related disruptions may have broken cycles of peer-influenced experimentation, while heightened awareness of mental health concerns could also play a role in shaping teens’ decisions.
The only notable increase was in the use of nicotine pouches. Among 12th graders, past-year use doubled from 3% to 6%, while 10th-grade usage rose from 2% to 3%.
“Use of nicotine pouches is readily concealable by adolescents because they do not require the user to expectorate juice,” researchers wrote. “Nicotine pouches have generated much media attention amid concerns that adolescent use may grow rapidly, often drawing comparisons to the rise of nicotine vaping from 2017 to 2019.”
In addition to the risk of drug and alcohol overdoses, early substance abuse has been found to increase a teen’s chances of school failure, suicide, unsafe sex and addiction. Research has even shown that teens who abuse substances have reduced wages and fewer job opportunities later in life.
This year’s federally-funded survey gathered responses from approximately 24,000 students in grades 8, 10, and 12 across the country.