Tag Archives: Monitoring the Future

Daily Marijuana Users in the US Outnumber Daily Drinkers

For the first time, more Americans are using marijuana daily or near daily than are drinking alcohol daily. This monumental shift, spanning more than three decades, reflects the consequences of legalized recreational and medical cannabis.  

The increase was foreshadowed by the alarming rise of daily teen pot use during the last decade.

In real terms, a much larger proportion of the US population drinks than uses cannabis.  But the proportion of alcohol users who have a problem with it seems to be considerably smaller than the proportion of marijuana users with a Cannabis Use Disorder.  Regular pot users are more likely wake-n-bake, while most daily drinkers don’t drink all day.  

Rise in Daily Teen Marijuana Use

By 2016, daily pot use among high school seniors reached 6 percent. It has continued hover around 6 to 6.5 percent since time. In contrast, daily drinking by teens remains around 2 percent or slightly less.

When NIDA and University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Study demonstrated the rise in daily teen pot use, we sounded the alarm.  Our warning in late 2016 was:

“Many of these young, habitual tokers, are potential addicts–if not yet addicted.  They may stick to marijuana which is extremely potent today–5x more potent than it was in 70s.  Or they may go onto other drugs, or slide into alcoholism as they turn the legal age to buy booze.”  At the same time opioid and heroin use were going down with teens.

The number of drug overdose deaths have more than doubled since that time, now counting around 108,000 a year. How could this happen after Harm Reduction became widespread? One part of the answer is fentanyl, currently the main driver of the overdose crisis. But — as we’ve shown previously — many teens graduate directly from marijuana use to fentanyl. Often they don’t know what’s in the pill. Although marijuana lobbyists deny the gateway effect, marijuana remains the gateway for those who use other drugs and die from drugs.

Our warnings were prescient.  Marijuana drives both the mental health crisis of today and the addiction crisis!

Concerning Numbers

According to a recent analysis of national survey data, conducted in 2022, an estimated 17.7 million people reported using marijuana on a daily or near-daily basis, compared to 14.7 million who reported similar levels of alcohol consumption.

This stark contrast marks a significant departure from 1992, when less than one million individuals reported daily marijuana use during a period of relative decline.

While alcohol remains more widely consumed overall, the emergence of daily marijuana use surpassing daily alcohol intake in 2022 is a watershed moment, as highlighted by Jonathan Caulkins, a leading cannabis policy researcher at Carnegie Mellon University.

Caulkins noted, “A notable 40% of current cannabis users are engaging in daily or near-daily consumption, a pattern reminiscent of tobacco use rather than traditional alcohol consumption.”

From 1992 to 2022, the per capita rate of reporting daily or near-daily marijuana use surged dramatically, increasing fifteen-fold.  Although legalizers dress their arguments in political terms such as “freedom” and “regulation,” it’s entirely about using political donations to sway public opinion and create a new addiction industry.

Changing Attitudes

Caulkins acknowledged the possibility of heightened reporting as societal attitudes toward marijuana become more accepting, potentially inflating the observed increase.

In real terms there are far more users of alcohol in the USA than cannabis users (65-69% of adults used alcohol at least once in the past year vs. 15-20% who used cannabis) According to Naomi Schaefer Riley, an estimated 20% of men now use cannabis, and 14% of women use it.

We take caution with these figures because problematic alcohol users can hide the extent of their use, while current cannabis users push its popularity in order to legalize it nationally.  

Current cannabis users push the idea that it is safe and not addictive.  DENIAL is a frequent trait of those who abuse substances, but no one denies alcohol’s or cocaine’s addictiveness the way they deny the addictiveness of marijuana

Long-Term Consequences

Dr. David A. Gorelick, a psychiatry professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, emphasized the hazards associated with daily marijuana use, including addiction and the development of severe mental illness.

High-frequency use also increases the risk of developing cannabis-associated psychosis,” a loss of reality, Dr. Gorelick said.  Cannabis-induced psychosis can prefigure the development of schizophrenia, but the legalization of the drug has not 

What Can We Learn From This?

With an increasing number of individuals engaging in daily marijuana consumption, the potential for problematic use and adverse health outcomes is a growing concern.

This new information highlights the sobering and inescapable fact that expanded marijuana legalization leads to greater – and more frequent – use of an addictive mind-altering gateway drug that contributes to worsened mental health.   Mental health in our country has been getting worse since before the pandemic, and now we contend with the turbocharged pot of today. 

Daily use of ANY intoxicant is generally considered problematic – alcohol, illicit drugs, opioid painkillers, but cannabis has the most negative effects on the brains or our youth.

The new information shows just one more reason why this drug should not be rescheduled.  We urge our readers to oppose rescheduling marijuana, using SAM’s handing form.

 

The parents succeeded before; we can do it again

Published on Parents Movement 2.0.  Most parents of teens today don’t realize there was a massive parent movement (1979-1992) that influenced Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign of their youth. Prior to the slogan in the early 1980s, those parents were taking very practical steps to change the local environments in which their kids grew up – reducing access and visibility of pot and drug paraphernalia and offering other parents at the time a way to think about teen drug and alcohol use and team up against it. Continue reading The parents succeeded before; we can do it again

Annual Survey Shows Marijuana Use Up Among Grades 8, 10, & 12

Monitoring the Future,* the nation’s annual survey of students, reported today marijuana use in 8th, 10th and 12th grades was higher than last year.  The survey also found that students in medical marijuana law states vaped marijuana at higher rates than students in other states, and consumed pot edibles (that can come in candies, sodas, or ice-creams) at double the rate than in non-medical marijuana law states. The survey does not include youth who drop out of school.

Misuse of prescription opioids continued its 10-year decline.  Virtually all other substances are at their lowest point in the history of the survey. The contrast is very significant, because many people think the overprescribing of opioids is the only reason our youth die of drug abuse.  They fail to reflect on the fact that early marijuana use is a predictor of other substance abuse.  Continue reading Annual Survey Shows Marijuana Use Up Among Grades 8, 10, & 12

NIDA Report Shows Use of Marijuana High, Feeding Future Drug Addiction

National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) reported today that drug abuse among teens is trending downward, except for marijuana.   The University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future Survey was completed for 2016.  It showed that six percent of high school seniors across the country are daily marijuana users.

Many of these young, habitual tokers, are potential addicts–if not yet addicted.  They may stick to marijuana which is extremely potent today–5x more potent than it was in 70s.  Or they may go onto other drugs, or slide into alcoholism as they turn the legal age to buy booze.  The six percent of seniors who are daily pot users is triple the rate of daily drinkers in 12th grade.  That figure is very troubling, and it is the same high rate from the previous year.

Teen abuse of other substances, including opioids and heroin, is down. However, adult substance abuse continues to rise astronomically.   The Centers for Disease Control released new statistics last week:  52,404 drug-related deaths in 2015, an 11% rise.  By comparison, 37,757 died in car crashes, an increase of 12%. Gun deaths, including homicides and suicides, totaled 36,252, a jump of 7%.     In 2014, there were 47,055 drug overdose deaths.  The rate of increase has risen rapidly in the last decade.

There’s the concern that these daily marijuana users will go onto other drugs, drugs that lead to overdose and are potentially lethal.    States with high rates of teen marijuana use in 2011 and 2012 ended up having the highest rates of opioid pill abuse two years later.  Here’s five reasons marijuana is a gateway drug.

Pain Pills, Cough Syrup and Other Drugs

The use of synthetic cannabinoids and ecstasy is lower, but still too high.  High school students are  using much fewer opioid pain pills.  Among 12th graders there’s been a 45 percent drop over the past five years. Only 2.9 percent of high school seniors reported past year misuse of the pain reliever Vicodin in 2016, compared to nearly 10 percent a decade ago.  The Drug Free American Foundation, CADCA and the pharmacies regularly sponsor “Take Back Your Drugs” days.  At these times, pain relievers from other family members are tossed out, with the hopes of preventing illicit use.

Fewer eighth graders are using marijuana, which is encouraging.   Parents Opposed to Pot believes it’s because new parent and community drug education efforts – since legalization — are discouraging early pot use.

One troubling note is that eighth graders had an increase in misuse of over-the-counter cough medicine.  This year, 2.6 percent of them have abused it, up from 1.6 percent in 2015.

Tobacco use and drinking are trending downward, but use of e-cigarettes has gone up.   Here’s the statistics.