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MONITORING FUTURE 2015 Overview MONITORING the FUTURE NATIONAL SURVEY RESULTS ON DRUG USE 1975–2015 2015 Overview Key Findings on Adolescent Drug Use Lloyd D. Johnston Patrick M. O’Malley Richard A. Miech Jerald G. Bachman John E. Schulenberg Sponsored by The National Institute on Drug Abuse at The National Institutes of Health MONITORING THE FUTURE NATIONAL SURVEY RESULTS ON DRUG USE 2015 Overview Key Findings on Adolescent Drug Use by Lloyd D. Johnston, Ph.D. Patrick M. O’Malley, Ph.D. Richard A. Miech, Ph.D. Jerald G. Bachman, Ph.D. John E. Schulenberg, Ph.D. The University of Michigan Institute for Social Research Sponsored by: The National Institute on Drug Abuse National Institutes of Health This publication was written by the principal investigators and staff of the Monitoring the Future project at the Institute for Social Research, the University of Michigan, under Research Grant R01 DA 001411 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the sponsor. Public Domain Notice All material appearing in this volume is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied, whether in print or non-print media including derivatives, without permission from the authors. If you plan to modify the material, please contact the Monitoring the Future Project at [email protected] for verification of accuracy. Citation of the source is appreciated, including at least the following: Monitoring the Future, Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Recommended Citation Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Miech, R. A., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2016). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975-2015: Overview, key findings on adolescent drug use. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan. Institute for Social Research The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan Printed February 2016 Contents Click on any item below (in blue) to go directly to that page. Introduction ................................................................................................................................1 Study Design and Methods ........................................................................................................3 Summary of Key Findings .........................................................................................................5 Specific Results by Drug Any Illicit Drug ............................................................................................................9 Marijuana ...................................................................................................................11 Synthetic Marijuana ...................................................................................................13 Inhalants .....................................................................................................................15 LSD ............................................................................................................................17 Cocaine ......................................................................................................................19 Crack ..........................................................................................................................21 Amphetamines and Other Stimulant Drugs ...............................................................23 Methamphetamine and Crystal Methamphetamine (Ice) ..........................................25 Heroin ........................................................................................................................27 Other Narcotic Drugs, Including OxyContin and Vicodin ........................................29 Tranquilizers ..............................................................................................................31 Sedatives (Barbiturates) ............................................................................................33 MDMA (Ecstasy, Molly) and Other “Club Drugs” ..................................................35 Alcohol .......................................................................................................................37 Cigarettes ...................................................................................................................39 Smokeless Tobacco ....................................................................................................41 E-cigarettes and Vaporizers .......................................................................................43 Small Cigars, Cigarillos, Large Cigars, and Tobacco Using a Hookah .....................45 Steroids ......................................................................................................................47 Subgroup Differences ..............................................................................................................49 Lessons Learned .......................................................................................................................52 Tables Covering All Drugs 1. Trends in Lifetime Prevalence of Use of Various Drugs for Grades 8, 10, and 12 Combined .................................................................................54 2. Trends in Annual Prevalence of Use of Various Drugs for Grades 8, 10, and 12 Combined .................................................................................55 3. Trends in 30‐Day Prevalence of Use of Various Drugs for Grades 8, 10, and 12 Combined .................................................................................56 4. Trends in Daily Prevalence of Use of Selected Drugs for Grades 8, 10, and 12 Combined .................................................................................57 5. Trends in Lifetime Prevalence of Use of Various Drugs in Grades 8, 10, and 12 ..................................................................................................58 6. Trends in Annual Prevalence of Use of Various Drugs in Grades 8, 10, and 12 ..................................................................................................64 7. Trends in 30‐day Prevalence of Use of Various Drugs in Grades 8, 10, and 12 ..................................................................................................72 8. Trends in 30‐Day Prevalence of Daily Use of Various Drugs in Grades 8, 10, and 12 ..................................................................................................78 9. Trends in Harmfulness of Drugs as Perceived by 8th Graders ..................................83 10. Trends in Harmfulness of Drugs as Perceived by 10th Graders ................................85 11. Trends in Harmfulness of Drugs as Perceived by 12th Graders ................................87 12. Trends in Disapproval of Drug Use in Grade 8 .........................................................90 13. Trends in Disapproval of Drug Use in Grade 10 .......................................................91 14. Trends in Disapproval of Drug Use in Grade 12 .......................................................92 15. Trends in Availability of Drugs as Perceived by 8th Graders ...................................94 16. Trends in Availability of Drugs as Perceived by 10th Graders .................................95 17. Trends in Availability of Drugs as Perceived by 12th Graders .................................96 Introduction Monitoring the Future (MTF) is a long-term study of trends in use. In addition, trends in the perceived American adolescents, college students, and adult high availability of each drug are presented, which at times school graduates through age 55. It has been conducted have proven important to explaining changes in usage annually by the University of Michigan’s Institute for levels for some drugs. Social Research since its inception in 1975 and is supported under a series of investigator-initiated, A synopsis of the design and methods used in the study competitive research grants from the National Institute and an overview of the key results from the 2015 on Drug Abuse. survey follow this introductory section. These are in turn followed by a separate section for each individual The need for a study such as MTF is clear. Substance drug class, providing figures that show trends in the use by American young people has proven to be a overall proportions of students at each grade level (a) rapidly changing phenomenon, requiring frequent using the drug, (b) seeing a “great risk” associated with assessments and reassessments. Since the mid-1960s, its use (perceived risk), (c) disapproving of its use when it burgeoned in the general youth population, (disapproval), and (d) saying that it would be fairly or illicit drug use has remained a major concern for the very easy to get if they wanted to (perceived nation. Smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use are availability). For 12th graders, annual data are available leading causes of morbidity and mortality during since 1975 and for 8th and 10th graders since 1991, the adolescence as well as later in life. How vigorously the first year they were included in the study. nation responds to teenage substance use, how accurately it identifies the emerging substance abuse The tables at the end of this report provide the statistics problems, and how well it comes to understand the underlying the figures; in addition, they present data on effectiveness of policy and intervention
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