Considerable Increases in Marijuana Use Seen in Young, Midlife Adults

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 23, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Past-year marijuana use has increased considerably among young and midlife adults, according to a report published by Monitoring the Future.

Megan E. Patrick, Ph.D., from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, and colleagues examined the prevalence of substance use using the latest annual update for the Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel study, which included 4,628 young adults (aged 19 to 30 years) and 5,450 midlife adults (aged 35 to 60 years) in 2022.

The researchers found that in 2022, the most prevalent substances used by young adults in the past 12 months were alcohol, marijuana (any mode), vaping nicotine, vaping marijuana, cigarettes, and other drugs (83.5, 43.6, 23.7, 21.3, 17.8, and 17.4 percent, respectively). Overall, 30.5 percent reported binge drinking and 11.3 percent reported daily marijuana use. Notable significant changes from 2021 to 2022 included an increase in vaping marijuana. Marijuana use in the past 12 months and daily use reached the highest levels ever recorded; vaping marijuana continues to reach new highest levels. For midlife adults, the most prevalent substances used in the past 12 months were alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, and other drugs (84.8, 27.9, 16.6, and 11.9 percent, respectively). Binge drinking was reported by 29.2 percent and daily marijuana use by 6.5 percent in 2022. Notable significant changes from 2021 to 2022 included an increase in marijuana use in the past 12 months and increases in binge drinking during the past year, five years, and 10 years, reaching a high of 29.2 percent in 2022.

"The value of surveys such as MTF is to show us how drug use trends evolve over decades and across development -- from adolescence through adulthood," Patrick said in a statement.

Monitoring the Future