New Monitoring the Future results are out today about drug use among America’s 8th, 10th, and 12th graders
👨🏻💻👩🏻🎓👩🏿🏫👨🏽🏫👩🏽🎓
What did they find?
(1/?)
👨🏻💻👩🏻🎓👩🏿🏫👨🏽🏫👩🏽🎓
What did they find?
(1/?)
↔️ No increase in lifetime, past year, past month marijuana 🌿 use among 8th, 10th, or 12th graders since 2018
↔️ No increase in lifetime, past year, past month cigarette smoking 🚬 among this group since 2018
↔️ No increase in hallucinogen 🍄, cocaine ❄️, heroin, MDMA use
↔️ No increase in lifetime, past year, past month cigarette smoking 🚬 among this group since 2018
↔️ No increase in hallucinogen 🍄, cocaine ❄️, heroin, MDMA use
↔️ No increase in recent alcohol 🍷 🍺 🍸 use since 2018
↘️ Decreases in prescription misuse driven by decreases in opioid and stimulant use 💊💊💊 among 12th graders
↘️ Decreases in prescription misuse driven by decreases in opioid and stimulant use 💊💊💊 among 12th graders
↗️ Increases in THC vaping 💨, but as I said before- marijuana consumption HAS NOT increased. This is a sign of a changed route of administration but not overall increased prevalence of use.
We don’t know how youth are getting these THC vapes, but the key to addressing this issue is strict regulations in legalized states to monitor production and materials, age checks at dispensaries, public education to adults abt storage and youth about risks.
↗️ Increases in youth nicotine vaping means we need to repeat lessons from tobacco prevention to reduce prevalence- stricter regulations of legal sales and age checks, taxes, change social norms, and better public education. No bans needed.
In summary, youth are drawn to vaping as a novel route of administration for the compounds present in old drugs (nicotine vs cigarettes; THC vs marijuana). But they have not increased use of the old drugs themselves; some cases reduced use of those old drugs.
Vaping is appealing, regardless of compound you vape. It’s easier to be discreet bc plumes don’t carry same smell as combustion of tobacco or marijuana flower. Devices look cool. Less stigmatized in some circles (but not all).
But vaping THC and nicotine also have serious differences and different risks.
Nicotine vaping clearly less harmful than smoking, the devices are better and consistently regulated. Meanwhile vaping THC requires oils and we still don’t know a lot. High potency also can be scary.
Nicotine vaping clearly less harmful than smoking, the devices are better and consistently regulated. Meanwhile vaping THC requires oils and we still don’t know a lot. High potency also can be scary.
