Beginning in 1975, the Monitoring the Future study has conducted annual surveys on substance use behaviors and attitudes among a nationally representative sample of teenagers. The study has a longitudinal panel study component, which conducts follow-up surveys from around 20,000 participants each year. Data is collected from participants between the ages of 19 and 30 years old every two years and every five years for those over 30 years old.
In the most recent 2024 report, the researchers found that past-year cannabis use remained at historical highs for both adult age groups in 2023. Around 42% of 19 to 30-year-olds reported past-year cannabis use, with 29% reporting past-month use and 10% daily use (defined as use on 20 or more occasions in the last 30 days). Among adults aged between 35 and 50 years old, 29% reported past-year use, 19% past-month use, and 8% daily use. The researchers noted that although these estimates are not statistically different from the results in 2022, they reflect five and 10-year increases for both groups.
The study further found that past-year and past-month cannabis vaping was reported by 22% and 14% of adults aged 19 to 30 and 9% and 6% of adults aged 35 to 50 years old in 2023. These figures represent all-time study highs and an increase from five years ago among the younger age group. Meanwhile, past-year hallucinogen use was shown to steeply increase for both adult groups over the last five years, reaching 9% of adults aged 19 to 30 years old and 4% of adults aged 35 to 50 years old. Hallucinogens reported by participants included LSD, mescaline, and shrooms or psilocybin.
“The data from 2023 did not show us many significant changes from the year before, but the power of surveys such as Monitoring the Future is to see the ebb and flow of various substance use trends over the longer term,” said Megan Patrick, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan and principal investigator of the Monitoring the Future panel study, in a press release.
“As more and more of our original cohorts – first recruited as teens – now enter later adulthood, we will be able to examine the patterns and effects of drug use throughout the life course. In the coming years, this study will provide crucial data on substance use trends and health consequences among older populations, when people may be entering retirement and other new chapters of their lives,” she concluded.
Sources: EurekAlert, Monitoring the Future Panel Study Annual Report