The percentage of young people consuming cannabis products has decreased dramatically over the better part of the past two decades, according to an analysis of youth survey data published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
Researchers affiliated with the University of Connecticut assessed data from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey. They analyzed over 254,000 high-school students’ responses during the years 1991 to 2023.
Consistent with other studies, they identified long-term declines in the prevalence of marijuana use by teens.
“Overall results show that rates of lifetime cannabis use rose from 1991, peaked in 1999 (47.3 percent), and subsequently decreased, with 30.1 percent of adolescents reporting ever using cannabis in 2023,” the study’s authors concluded. “Similarly, while over one-quarter of US adolescent reported recent cannabis use in 1999, by 2023 less than one-fifth did. Overall, early-age cannabis use also similarly decreased.”
Commenting on the data, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, “Sensational claims that adult-use legalization laws are linked with greater marijuana use by teens are simply not backed by government data. These findings ought to reassure lawmakers that cannabis access can be legally regulated in a manner that is safe, effective, and that does not inadvertently impact young people’s habits.”
Federally funded survey data compiled by the University of Michigan in December similarly reported that marijuana use by adolescents has fallen significantly since states began regulating adult-use cannabis markets and now stands at or near historic lows.
It found that between 2012 and 2025, the percentage of 12th graders reporting having ever used cannabis fell 23 percent. Among 10th graders, it fell 35 percent. Among 8th graders, lifetime use fell 17 percent. During that same period, current use by teens also declined significantly — falling 25 percent among 12th graders, 45 percent among 10th graders, and 38 percent among 8th graders.
The abstract of the study, “Trends in US adolescent cannabis use, 1991-2023,” appears in Addictive Behaviors. Additional information is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Marijuana Regulation and Teen Use Rates.’
