A new era
“Children who were in eighth grade at the start of the pandemic will graduate from high school this year, and this unique cohort has ushered in the lowest rates of substance use we have seen in decades,” Miech noted.
Past-12-month alcohol use among eighth-graders was 12.9 percent in 2024, similar to 2023 levels, which is an all-time low. For 10th graders, the rate dropped significantly from 30.6 percent in 2023 to 26.1 percent, and for 12th graders from 45.7 percent to 41.7 percent — both record lows.
For nicotine vaping, rates decreased for 10th graders (from 17.5 percent to 15.4 percent) and remained at low levels for 8th and 12th graders. Marijuana use remained low among eighth and tenth graders and dropped significantly among twelfth graders (from 29 percent to 25.8 percent). All three figures are at lows not seen since 1990.
For abstainers from alcohol, marijuana and nicotine in the previous 30 days, the rate among eighth graders was 90 percent, up from 87 percent in 2017, when this was first measured. The rate was 80 percent among 10th graders, compared to 69 percent in 2017, and 67 percent among 12th graders, compared to 53 percent in 2017.
“This trend in the reduction of substance use among teens is unprecedented,” said Nora Volkow, director of the NIH's National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). “We must continue to investigate factors that have contributed to this reduced risk of substance use to tailor interventions to support the continuation of this trend.”
