A newly published study tracks what it calls a “significant decrease” in youth marijuana use from 2011 to 2021—a period in which more than a dozen states legalized marijuana for adults—detailing lower rates of both lifetime and past-month use by high-school students nationwide. The findings run contrary to claims from legalization opponents who said the policy change would lead to skyrocketing cannabis consumption by teens.
In 2011, says the study, published this month in the journal Pediatric Reports, 39.9% of adolescents reported ever having tried marijuana. As of 2021, that number had fallen to 27.8%. The share who said they consumed cannabis at least once in the past month, meanwhile, fell from 23.1% in 2011 to 15.8% in 2021. Drawing on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Survey—which polls ninth through 12th graders on various health-related behaviors—the new analysis also found that proportion of young people who reported trying cannabis before age 13 also fell markedly during the study period, dropping from 8.1% in 2011 to 4.9% in 2021.
The declines came as marijuana use by adults climbed to “historic highs,” according to a federally funded report published last year. That report found that teen use rates, however, were for the most part stable. Despite the declines across races, genders and grade levels, authors highlighted trends they said raise concerns, such as the fact that more girls than boys reported consuming marijuana in 2021, reversing a longtime trend of boys reporting higher use rates.
