NIH Report on 2022 Drug Use by Kids

"The percentage of adolescents reporting substance use in 2022 largely held steady after significantly declining in 2021, according to the latest results(link is external) from the Monitoring the Future survey(link is external) of substance use behaviors and related attitudes among eighth, 10^th, and 12^th graders in the United States. Reported use for almost all substances decreased dramatically from 2020 to 2021 after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and related changes like school closures and social distancing. In 2022, reported use of any illicit drug within the past year remained at or significantly below pre-pandemic levels for all grades, with 11% of eighth graders, 21.5% of 10^th graders, and 32.6% of 12^th graders reporting any illicit drug use in the past year.

The Monitoring the Future survey is conducted each year by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health."

• Nicotine vaping remained stable for all three grades surveyed, with 12% of eighth graders, 20.5% of 10^th graders, and 27.3% of 12^th graders reporting vaping nicotine in the past year.
   
• Cannabis use also remained stable for all three grades surveyed, with 8.3% of eighth graders, 19.5% of 10^th graders, and 30.7% of 12^th graders reporting cannabis use in the past year. Of note, 6.0% of eighth graders, 15.0% of 10^th graders, and 20.6% of 12^th graders reported vaping cannabis within the past year, reflecting a stable trend at the pre-pandemic level among eighth and 12^th graders, and a small increase in reported use among 10^th graders, though reported use among 10^th graders in 2022 is still significantly below pre-pandemic levels.
   
• Alcohol use remained stable for eighth and 10^th graders (with 15.2% and 31.3% reporting use in the past year, respectively) but returned to pre-pandemic levels for 12^th graders in 2022 (with 51.9% of 12^th graders reporting alcohol use in the past year).
   
• Any illicit drug use other than marijuana also remained stable for all three grades surveyed, with 4.9% of eighth graders, 5.7% of 10^th graders, and 8.0% of 12^th graders reporting any illicit drug use other than marijuana in the past year. These data build on long-term trends documenting low and fairly steady use of illicit substances reported among teenagers – including past-year use of cocaine, heroin, amphetamines, and nonmedical use of prescription drugs, generally.  
   
• Use of narcotics other than heroin (including Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet, etc.) increased slightly among 12^th graders between 2021 and 2022 (with 1.7% of 12^th graders reporting use within the past year), consistent with the pre-pandemic levels observed in 2019 and 2020 (2.7% and 2.1%, respectively).