For years, critics of cannabis reform have leaned on the same warning: legal weed will lead to more teens using marijuana.
The data keeps telling a different story.
According to newly released, federally funded survey data compiled by researchers at the University of Michigan, teen marijuana use has continued its long-term decline and now sits at or near historic lows, even as more states regulate legal cannabis for adults.
What the latest numbers show
The findings come from the Monitoring the Future survey, one of the longest-running and most widely cited federal drug-use studies in the country, funded by the National Institutes of Health and conducted annually among 8th, 10th and 12th graders.
Between 2012 and 2025, the period that coincides with the rise of state-regulated adult-use cannabis markets, reported marijuana use among teens fell sharply across every age group.
Among 12th graders, lifetime cannabis use dropped 23%.
Among 10th graders, it fell 35%.
Among 8th graders, it declined 17%.
Past-year use fell even more steeply, while past-month use dropped between 25% and 45%, depending on grade level.
These aren’t marginal changes. They’re sustained, multi-year declines.
The federal government isn’t disputing this
In a press release accompanying the data, Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, acknowledged the trend plainly.
“We are encouraged that adolescent drug use remains relatively low and that so many teens choose not to use drugs at all,” Volkow said, adding that continued monitoring remains essential.
Importantly, the data shows that from 2024 to 2025, cannabis use among teens did not increase in any grade level across lifetime, past-year or past-month measures. Among 8th graders, use actually declined further year over year.
Legalization didn’t reverse the trend
The timing matters.
Teen marijuana use has been falling steadily since 2012, the same year voters in Colorado and Washington approved …
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Author: Javier Hasse / High Times
