SAFE GC Coalition: Marijuana Use, Binge Drinking Hit Historic Highs

Past-year use of marijuana and hallucinogens by adults 35 to 50 years old continued a long-term upward trajectory to reach all-time highs in 2022, according to the Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel study, an annual survey of substance use behaviors and attitudes of adults 19 to 60 years old. Among younger adults aged 19 to 30, reports of past-year marijuana and hallucinogen use as well as marijuana and nicotine vaping significantly increased in the past five years, with marijuana use and vaping at their highest historic levels for this age group in 2022. The MTF study is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and is conducted by scientists at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor.

While binge drinking has generally declined for the past 10 years among younger adults, adults aged 35 to 50 in 2022 reported the highest prevalence of binge drinking ever recorded for this age group, which also represents a significant past-year, five-year, and 10-year increase.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), substance use is not limited to teens and young adults, and these data helps understand how people use drugs across the lifespan. Understanding these trends is a first step, and it is crucial that research continues to educate how substance use and related health impacts may change over time, ensuring that people from the earliest to the latest stages in adulthood are equipped with up-to-date knowledge to help inform decisions related to substance use.

Since 1975, the MTF study has annually surveyed substance use behaviors and attitudes among nationally representative samples of eighth, 10th, and 12th graders. The MTF longitudinal panel study conducts follow-up surveys on a subset of the participants after the 12th grade to track their drug use through adulthood. After high school, the participants are followed every other year through age 30, then every five years afterward, with the oldest participants now in their 60s.

Data for the 2022 survey of adults were collected via online and paper surveys from April 2022 through October 2022. Researchers divided the data into two age groups to conduct trend analyses: 19 to 30 years old and 35 to 50 years old. Key findings include:

Marijuana Use: For adults aged 19 to 30, the percentages of those reporting past-year marijuana use and daily marijuana use reached their highest levels ever reported by the study. Past-year use was reported by approximately 44% of those surveyed in 2022, an increase from five years ago (35% in 2017) and 10 years ago (28% in 2012). Daily marijuana use also reached its highest level reported in 2022 (11%), which was greater than five years (8% in 2017) and 10 years ago (6% in 2012).

Reports of past-year marijuana use among adults aged 35 to 50 also reached an all-time high in 2022 (28%). This had increased from the previous year (25% in 2021) and five years ago (17% in 2017), and more than doubled compared to 10 years ago (13% in 2012).

Vaping: Past-year marijuana vaping was reported by 21% of adults 19 to 30 years old in 2022, the highest levels reported since the measure was first added in 2017 (12%), as well as a notable increase from the past year (19% in 2021) and five years ago (12% in 2017). Past-year nicotine vaping among this younger adult group also reached a historic high in 2022 (24%), nearly double the rate reported five years ago in 2017 (14%), when the measure was first added.

Among adults aged 35 to 50, reports of past-year marijuana vaping remained at similar levels (9% in 2022) since 2019, when these measures were first available in this age group. Prevalence of past-year nicotine vaping has also remained steady in this age group since it has been reported, with 7% reporting in 2022.

Alcohol Use: Over the past decade, rates of alcohol use – including past-month use, daily drinking, and binge drinking – have shown an overall downward trend for adults 19 to 30 years old. Past-year drinking slightly increased for this age group in 2022 (84%) compared to five years ago (82% in 2017).

Alcohol use among adults aged 35 to 50 has shown a gradual increase over the past 10 years, with past-year drinking increasing from 83% in 2012 to 85% in 2022. Binge drinking in this older group reached its highest levels (29% in 2022), and increased over the past year, five years, and 10 years (26% in 2021; 25% in 2017; 23% in 2012).

The SAFE Glen Cove Coalition is concerned about youth and adult alcohol and substance use. It seeks to educate the community about its harmful effects on one’s health. To learn more about the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition please follow us on www.facebook.com/safeglencovecoalition or visit SAFE’s website to learn more about alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and opioid use please visit www.safeglencove.org.