Marijuana use by young Americans hit record levels last year, and use of hallucinogens is also on the rise, according to a new study. 43% of the 5,000 young people between the ages of 19 and 30 surveyed said they had used marijuana in 2021, up from 34% in 2016 and 29% in 2011, according to the University of Michigan “Monitoring the Future” report.
Furthermore, 29% reported using marijuana in the past month in 2021, up from 21% in 2016 and 17% in 2011. Daily marijuana use increased from 6% in 2011 to 8% in 2016 and 11 % in 2021.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the main medical research agency of the US government. The authors said the 2021 marijuana use figures were the “highest levels on record since these trends were first monitored in 1988.”
Hallucinogens
For hallucinogens, 8% of young adults said they had used LSD, MDMA, mescaline, peyote, “mushrooms,” or PCP (phencyclidine) in the past year, up from 5% in 2016 and 3% in 2011.
Nearly 82% of those surveyed reported drinking alcohol in the previous 12 months, down slightly from 83.5% in 2016 and 83.8% in 2011. The study did not mention any reason for the rise in marijuana use among young adults, but recreational cannabis is now legal in nearly 20 of the 50 US states.
