In 12th grade the prevalence of marijuana vaping increased 7.7 percentage points in 2019, which is the second largest increase in 12-month substance use ever recorded in this grade (the largest increase was last year, with the 10.9% absolute increase in nicotine vaping).
In 10th grade the increase was 7.0 percentage points in 2019, which is also the second largest ever observed in the 29 years that the study has tracked past 12-month substance use in this grade (the largest increase was last year, with the 8.9% absolute increase in nicotine vaping from 2017 to 2018).
For all secondary students the increases in marijuana vaping translate into at least one million additional marijuana vapers in 2019 as compared to 2018.
The good news: Fewer American teens are consuming alcohol underage. That also has a downside:
he longer-term declines in underaqge drinking noted over the past few decades have leveled off. In 2020 there were no further significant declines observed in any of the three grades under study in the prevalence of lifetime, annual, 30-day, or daily use, or in binge drinking (defined as having five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks). Year-over-year prevalence rates increased slightly from 2019 to 2020 among students in 8th, 10th and 12th grades, but all rates remain significantly lower than peak years.
“Today’s data highlights that our work to eliminate underage drinking is not done. While the perceived ease of access to alcohol among our nation’s youth continues to decline is good news, it is unfortunate to see alcohol consumption has leveled off from a very long historical decline,” said Maureen Dalbec, COO and senior vp-research and data analysis at Responsibility.org.
The majority of American teens have never consumed alcohol; among students in grades 8, 10, and 12 combined, 56% report they have never consumed alcohol in their lifetime. Over the past decade the number of combined students reporting they have consumed alcohol decreased 15%, proportionally, and 45% from its peak of 80% in 1991, clear indications of the success in delaying the onset of underage drinking.
“After a long period of decline, the consumption of alcohol among our nation’s youth appears to have stabilized. In 2020, 22 percent of teens reported they had been drunk in the past year – this is too many and we can and must do better. Responsibility.org will redouble our efforts to do our part to eliminate underage drinking and to work alongside parents, teachers and caregivers to continue making the prevention of underage drinking a priority,” said Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS) and Responsibility.org.