Over Two-Thirds of American Teens Don’t Drink, Smoke or Use Marijuana: Survey

In a sense, it is a sobering report.

Most American teenagers are staying away from alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes and heat as part of a lasting effect of the COVID-19 pandemic — while only one vice is on the rise, according to a national survey released Tuesday.

Nearly two-thirds of high school seniors said they had not drunk alcohol or used marijuana or tobacco products in the past month — marking the largest percentage of sober teens since the annual survey began documenting substance use in 2017.

Even fewer people in the classroom are turning to substances.

The federally funded Monitoring the Future survey, based on responses from 24,000 students in grades 8, 10 and 12 across the country, found that 80% of 10th graders had not recently used any of the above drugs or alcohol and 90% of 8th graders had abstained.

But what stands out from the illegal substances that teenagers are turning to at a higher rate are nicotine patches, such as the popular brand Zyn. However, the number of 12th graders using Zyn and other bags increased from just 3% in 2023 to 6% this year, according to the survey.

Researchers believe the drop in teen substance use is a lasting effect of pandemic lockdowns that limited social gatherings — and lessened peer pressure.

High school freshmen are often turned to drugs and alcohol by their older peers, researchers noted.

But freshmen during the pandemic era were forced to avoid large gatherings and social events and never started drinking and smoking. Growing up, they didn’t have the experience of alcohol and marijuana to influence underclassmen, the researchers theorized.

“The pandemic stopped the cycle of young kids coming in and being recruited for drug use,” said survey orchestrator Richard Miech of the University of Michigan.

The trend surprised researchers who thought they would see teenage use pick up once lockdowns and restrictions on social gatherings were lifted.

“I think everyone expected at least a partial comeback,” Miech said.

By postal wire