"Many of the largest one-year declines ever recorded by the study took place across a wide variety of substances during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2021. The survey results divide neatly into the time periods before and after the onset of the pandemic. All surveys in 2020 were completed before March 15, when national social distancing policies were enacted and data collection was halted due to pandemic concerns. Consequently, results from 2020 and previous years are pre-pandemic, while results from 2021 and afterwards took place after the onset of the pandemic and the associated national response.
"Historic declines took place for the three most commonly used substances. Cannabis use in the past 12 months experienced its largest recorded decline in each of the three grades, with tracking since 1975 for 12th grade and tracking since 1991 for 8th and 10th grades. Nicotine vaping in the past 12 months also saw its largest recorded decline in all three grades, with tracking beginning in 2017. Similarly, alcohol use experienced its largest recorded decline in 12th grade (tracked since 1975) and in 10th grade (tracked since 1991) for past 12-month use.
"We now have five waves of data since the pandemic onset, providing an opportunity to assess whether these declines have persisted or rebounded—a question of considerable importance for both policy and research. On the one hand, persistence of the declines would suggest that a delay in drug use initiation during adolescence can potentially lower substance use trajectories over a lifetime. Delays in drug use initiation could work to prevent youth from joining drug-using peer groups and/or disrupt biological processes that foster addiction. Additionally, the pandemic may have disrupted peer groups that encourage drug use, as well as the processes by which these groups recruit new members and perpetuate themselves. On the other hand, drug use may have rebounded, either partially or in full, as the pandemic receded and social distancing restrictions were lifted.
"The tables in this chapter show that the declines have persisted for almost all drugs; in fact, most have continued to decline further. Alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine vaping all decreased for past 12 month use from 2024 to 2025 in all grades (although these one-year declines were not statistically significant). These findings underscore the importance of future research to identify the intervening mechanisms that account both for these declines as well as for their persistence, with the ultimate goal to inform future policies or interventions that can substantially reduce or even eliminate youth drug use."
Miech, R. A., Patrick, M. E., O’Malley, P. M., Jager, J. O., & Jang, J. B. (2026). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2025: Overview and detailed results for secondary school students. Monitoring the Future Monograph Series. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.