U.S. adolescent hashish use dropped considerably in 2021 regardless of ongoing legalization efforts, the opening of greater than a dozen state-legal hashish markets across the nation, and a spike in psychological well being considerations associated to the pandemic, based on information from the Monitoring the Future survey launched on Wednesday.
The information exhibits a 38 p.c year-over-year decline in self-reported hashish use amongst eighth and Tenth-graders, and a 13 p.c decline amongst Twelfth-graders.
The Monitoring the Future survey, which is funded by the U.S. Nationwide Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), additionally discovered that the plummeting charge of youth hashish use coincided with a lower within the underage use of different medication, together with medication generally sought by youngsters like alcohol and vaped nicotine.
“Now we have by no means seen such dramatic decreases in drug use amongst teenagers in only a one-year interval. These information are unprecedented and spotlight one surprising potential consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought about seismic shifts within the day-to-day lives of adolescents. Shifting ahead, it will likely be essential to establish the pivotal parts of this previous yr that contributed to decreased drug use – whether or not associated to drug availability, household involvement, variations in peer strain, or different components – and harness them to tell future prevention efforts.” — Nora Volkow, NIDA director, in a press launch
The Monitoring the Future survey is an annual check-in with eighth, Tenth, and Twelfth graders across the U.S. that asks college students to self-report their substance use behaviors and related data, together with their notion of drug-related harms, approval or disapproval of their use, and perceived availability. The information from every survey is launched on the finish of the yr throughout which it was collected.
“These newest findings add to the rising physique of scientific literature displaying that marijuana regulation insurance policies may be applied in a way that gives entry for adults whereas concurrently limiting youth entry and misuse,” mentioned Paul Armentano, the deputy director for hashish advocacy group NORML.
U.S. college students throughout all age teams additionally reported “average will increase” in experiencing “boredom, anxiousness, melancholy, loneliness, fear, issue sleeping, and different adverse psychological well being indicators” because the COVID-19 pandemic’s outset.
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