How drug use among teens compares by state

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How drug use among teens compares by state

Close-up of a young man smoking a cigarette outside.

Fewer teens are using drugs after rates dropped dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, but overdoses are on the rise as fentanyl becomes more common.

Substance use treatment facilities examined data from the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future survey and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to determine how teen drug use varies by state and how it has changed over time.

In 2023, about 1 in 5 children between the ages of 12 and 17 had used an illicit drug in the past year, up from about 28% of teens in 2020, according to the University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future survey. The report, sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, surveyed more than 22,000 students in eighth, 10th and 12th grades.

The sharp decline can be partly attributed to the closure of schools during the pandemic, which limited access to drugs, while increasing parental supervision due to working from home. After a slight rebound in 2021, alcohol, nicotine and cannabis use has largely continued to decline across all classes and remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels.

Among 12th graders, prescription misuse has also decreased, from 8% in 2020 to 4% in 2023. Still, it remains the most common form of drug abuse after alcohol and marijuana, and while opioid overdoses have decreased overall taken, they are still the most common form of drug abuse. rising among teenagers. A 2024 report published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that drug overdoses have become the third leading cause of child deaths, behind gun-related injuries and car crashes, largely due to an increase in fentanyl use in counterfeit pills.

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Drug use among teens is declining

A line graph showing the percentage of teens who used drugs in the past month is declining.

Teenagers turn to drugs for several reasons, including to combat boredom, to feel like adults or to fit in. It can also be a sign of a mental illness, as drugs can be used as a form of self-medication for conditions such as depression, anxiety and ADHD.

After peaking in the mid-1990s, drug use among teens is largely declining. This is partly attributed to increased anti-drug messages, including the war on drugs in the late 1980s and the proliferation of national drug education campaigns such as DARE

After a decline during the pandemic, researchers had speculated that drug use among teens could rebound once students return to school. However, the most recent data shows that a delay in first drug use among younger students has led to lower levels of chronic drug use overall. In other words, because fewer students experimented with drugs for the first time, it reduced their chances of using them again.

In 2023, the share of 10th graders who had never tried drugs or alcohol rose to 54% from 49% the year before. For 12th graders, the increase was even greater, with 38% abstaining from drugs by 2023, up from 31% by 2022.

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Teenagers in New Mexico, Arizona use drugs more often

A map showing how teen drug use varies by state.

Although drug use among teens has largely declined, the latest data from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health show modest differences by state.

Drug use is generally higher in some Western states, including New Mexico, where 13.7% of teens had used drugs in the past month. This is in line with larger trends, as New Mexico has had one of the highest rates of alcohol and drug-related deaths in the country for decades. A 2023 report from the state Legislature shows fewer teens are using drugs than a decade ago, but overdoses are increasing.

Northeastern states, including Rhode Island and Massachusetts, also have some of the highest rates of drug use among teens. Again, this is in line with larger regional trends as New England has felt the outsized impact of the opioid crisis.

States with the lowest teen drug use were Alabama and Utah, both around 5%. However, both states have experienced a rise in opioid deaths in recent years. In 2023, Alabama launched the Odds Are Alabama campaign to raise awareness and prevent fentanyl overdose deaths.

Story editing by Cynthia Rebolledo. Additional editing by Kelly Glass and Elisa Huang. Text editing by Tim Bruns.

This story originally appeared on Substance Use Treatment Facilities and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.