Good News: Most U.S. Teens Are Not Drinking, Smoking or Using Marijuana

As a parent of teenagers, sometimes I get tired of the negativity surrounding my kids’ generation. I often see commentary that they are lazy and entitled. We talk about their mental health and obsessive phone use. I often see social media comments that they have no manners and are brats.

It all feels overwhelming at times. That’s why I was happy to see some good news for once.

A nationwide study has revealed a significant reduction in alcohol and drug consumption among U.S. teenagers in 2024 compared to previous years.

According to data from Monitoring the Future (MTF), teen alcohol use has steadily declined over the past two decades. Among 12th graders, alcohol use dropped from 73% in 2000 to 42% in 2024. Similarly, usage fell from 65% to 26% among 10th graders and from 43% to 13% among 8th graders.

Monitoring the Future is an ongoing study of the behaviors, attitudes, and values of Americans from adolescence through adulthood. Each year, more than 25,000 8th, 10th and 12th grade students are surveyed as part of the MTF Main study (12th graders since 1975, and 8th and 10th graders since 1991) and approximately 20,000 adults ages 19 to 65 are surveyed as part of the MTF Panel study. The Monitoring the Future Panel study conducts annual follow-up surveys with a subsample of each graduating class, who complete a follow-up every two years from ages 19–30 and every five years from age 35 onward. The Monitoring the Future Study has been funded under a series of investigator-initiated competing research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a part of the National Institutes of Health. MTF is conducted at the Survey Research Center in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.

“I expected adolescent drug use would rebound at least partially after the large declines that took place during the pandemic onset in 2020, which were among the largest ever recorded,” said Richard Miech, team lead of the Monitoring the Future study at U-M’s Institute for Social Research.

“Many experts in the field had anticipated that drug use would resurge as the pandemic receded and social distancing restrictions were lifted. As it turns out, the declines have not only lasted but have dropped further.”

Decline in Alcohol and Binge Drinking

The study highlighted a “long-term, overall decline” in teen alcohol consumption. In 2024, alcohol use significantly decreased for 12th and 10th graders, both in terms of lifetime use and use within the past 12 months. For 10th graders, use within the past 30 days also declined notably.

Binge drinking, defined as consuming five or more drinks in a row at least once in the past two weeks, also saw a decline across all grades in 2024 compared to 2023 and previous decades. Since 2000, binge drinking rates have dropped from 30% to 9% among 12th graders, from 24% to 5% among 10th graders, and from 12% to 2% among 8th graders.

Relate: Drink Spiking: Advice from a former CIA agent and Dad

Historic Low in Teen Smoking

Teen cigarette use in 2024 reached its lowest level since the survey began tracking 12th graders in 1975 and 8th and 10th graders in 1991.

Researchers attribute this decline to policy changes and public debates on tobacco in the late 1990s, as well as the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which granted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products.

For nicotine vaping, the 2024 declines continue a 180-degree turn centered around the pandemic onset. Before the pandemic, use levels surged from 2017 to 2019 and then held steady in 2020 (before the pandemic onset). Large declines took place during the pandemic, and these declines have since continued to the point where the 2024 levels for the past 12 months of nicotine vaping are close to where they started in 2017, the first year that questions on nicotine vaping were included on the survey. Specifically, past 12-month use was 21% in 12th grade (compared to 35% in 2020 and 19% in 2017), 15% in 10th grade (compared to 31% in 2020 and 16% in 2017) and 10% in eighth grade (compared to 17% in 2020 and 10% in 2017).

Reduction in Marijuana Use

Non-medical marijuana use among teens also decreased in 2024. Annual usage rates were 26% for 12th graders, 16% for 10th graders, and 7% for 8th graders.

Researchers pointed out that these figures are significantly lower than the peak levels observed in the late 1970s when over half of 12th graders reported using marijuana in the previous year.

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