At left, Cyrus Howland, 22, vapes nicotine in the University Hill neighborhood of Boulder, Colorado, on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019.
© Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes via Imagn Content Services, LLC + © Kerri Bartlett / The Tennessean, Nashville Tennessean via Imagn Content Services, LLC
(New York, NY) – A new report says the use of alcohol, marijuana, and even vaping is on the decline among young Americans. In the federally-funded “Monitoring the Future” survey, 24,000 students in grades 8, 10, and 12 responded. It found eight in every ten high school sophomores haven’t used drugs or booze. That number rose to nine in every ten 8th graders, who have remained totally sober.
The same survey indicates cigarette smoking is on the decline — part of an ongoing trend. Some describe it as a lasting trend of the COVID-19 pandemic that alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use has declined. But there’s another trend on the rise: the use of nicotine pouches, such as the popular Zin brand.
These pouches, which sort of resemble chiclet-sized tea bags, contain nicotine. From 2023 to this year, the number of high school seniors who use Zyn or similar products has risen from 3% to 6%.
That said, the decline in terms of weed, tobacco, and booze has caught some researchers by surprise. the survey was orchestrated by Richard Miech, of the University of Michigan. “The pandemic stopped the cycle of new kids coming in and being recruited to drug use,” he explains. But Miech also adds, “I think everyone expected at least a partial rebound.”
