Underage Marijuana Use Awareness Campaign
Keeping Glen Cove SAFE: Underage Marijuana Use Awareness Campaign
The SAFE Glen Cove Coalition is concerned about youth marijuana use and its consequences.
Monitoring the Future (MTF) is one of the nation’s most relied upon scientific sources of valid information on trends in use of licit and illicit psychoactive drugs by U.S. adolescents, college students, young adults, and adults up to age 60. MTF is conducted each year by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.
The MTF survey is given annually to students in eighth, 10th, and 12th grades who self-report their substance use behaviors over various time periods, such as past 30 days, past 12 months, and lifetime. The survey also documents students’ perception of harm, disapproval of use, and perceived availability of drugs and has been doing so since 1975.
In 2024, decreases in marijuana use among students are a more recent development. In all grades, the percentage that used marijuana in the past 12 months hovered within a tight window of just a few percentage points in the twenty years from 2000 to 2020. The results in 2021, the first year measured after the pandemic onset, showed that large and substantial declines in marijuana use took place in all grades. In 12th and 10th grades, these declines have since continued, and past 12-month use levels in 2024 were the lowest in the past three decades, at 26% and 16%, respectively. In 8th grade, the percentage in 2024 was 7%, where it has stayed for the past four years after dropping from a pre-pandemic level of 11% in 2020.
In 2024, marijuana use declined in all three grades for lifetime, past 12-month, and past 30-day use. The 12th grade decline in past 12-month use was statistically significant. Despite these declines, the 2024 levels remain substantial, with the percentage of students using marijuana in the last 12 months at 26% in 12th grade, 16% in 10th grade, and 7% in 8th grade.
The substantial declines from 2020 to 2021 during the onset of the pandemic mark the first substantial change in marijuana prevalence in more than a decade; previous to 2021, marijuana levels had hovered without any systematic trending for about a decade. These lower levels have persisted in the following years and did not rebound.
Levels of annual marijuana use today are considerably lower than the historic highs observed in the late 1970s, when more than half of 12th graders had used marijuana in the past 12 months. This high point marked the pinnacle of a rise in marijuana use from negligible levels before the 1960s.
Daily marijuana use, defined as use on 20 or more occasions in the past 30 days, decreased slightly in 12th and 8th grades and held steady in 10th grade. The 2024 levels remained below the 2021 levels, which reflect a sharp drop during the pandemic-era social distancing policies. In 8th grade, prevalence has hovered between 0.2% and 2% since first tracked in 1991.
The prevalence of using marijuana daily for a month or more during one’s lifetime is reported for 12th graders only. That prevalence was at 21% when first measured in 1982, declined sharply to just 8% by 1992, and rose back to 19% by 1997. This was then followed by a long gradual decline to 12% by 2018 before leveling. It stood at 13% in 2024.
Medical Marijuana (Cannabis) Since 2017, the survey has included the question “Have you ever used ‘medical marijuana;’ that is, marijuana you used because a doctor told you to use it?” Prevalence has hovered between 1% and 4% in all years in all three grades and has not systematically trended.
Delta-8 Questions on delta-8 were added to the survey in 2023. Delta-8 is a substance derived from hemp. It contains THC-8, which is an isomer of the active ingredient THC-9 found in cannabis. Delta-8 reportedly produces a high that some have called “marijuana light”. Regulation of delta-8 is currently under development; because it is derived from hemp, its use and sale is not covered by state, local, and federal laws that regulate cannabis.
In 2024, past 12-month prevalence increased from 11% to 12% in 12th grade, although this increase was not statistically significant. Questions on delta-8 were first asked for 10th and 8th graders in 2024, and past-12-month prevalence was 8% and 3%, respectively. These prevalence levels are considerable for a substance that has only recently come to market.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): NIDA is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug use and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy, improve practice, and advance addiction science. For more information about NIDA and its programs, visit https://www.nida.nih.gov/.
Resources and Data
SAFE Glen Cove Coalition: Negative Consequences of Marijuana Use Fact Sheet
The New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (NYS OASAS) has launched a new Cannabis Toolkit for parents and mentors, designed to offer resources and information about cannabis and how to talk to young people about the risks of underage cannabis use and the impact it can have. This free toolkit is available in both English and Spanish on the OASAS website.
This fact sheet for teens provides facts about marijuana. It describes short- and long-term effects and lists signs of marijuana. The fact sheet helps to dispel common myths about marijuana.
SAMHSA Advisory Cannabidiol (CBD): Potential Harms, Side Effects, and Unknowns
SAMHSA has issued a new advisory on “Cannabidiol (CBD) – Potential Harms, Side Effects, and Unknowns”. This advisory introduces readers to cannabidiol (CBD), how it is derived, and how it differs from delta-9 THC and other cannabinoids. The advisory focuses on the risks and harms of CBD, especially those sold over the counter. This advisory also clarifies common misconceptions about CBD, given its broad availability and marketing for several medical conditions despite limited evidence of efficacy. It is critical that the general public be made aware of the potential harms associated with CBD use, and parents, in particular, should be advised to not let their children use non-FDA-approved CBD products.
U.S. Department of Justice: Growing Up Drug Free-A Parent’s Guide to Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:Marijuana and Public Health
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration:Know the Risks of Marijuana
Partnership to End Addiction:Marijuana Facts and Resources
National Institute on Drug Abuse:Marijuana Drug Facts and Research
The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act
Smart Approaches to Marijuana: Lessons Learned from State Marijuana Legalization
The New York Office of Cannabis Management is a state agency established upon passage of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act to implement a regulatory framework for medical and adult-use cannabis in the state of New York. For more information please visit https://cannabis.ny.gov/.
“Cannabis Conversations” is a public education campaign that includes information on who can consume, where to consume, and how to consume safely and prevention messages for youth and adults can be found at OCM Cannabis Conversations
National Poison Data System: As of December 31, 2024, poison centers in the United States had handled 9,151 cases of cannabis edible exposure in patients under the age of 20. From 2019 to 2024, poison centers had handled 36,921 cases of cannabis edible exposure in patients under the age of 20.
Edible Marijuana Dangers: How Parents Can Prevent THC Poisoning (healthychildren.org)
