IN-DEPTH: Drug Crisis Puts Lives of Adolescents in Jeopardy, Help Not on the Way

‘Taken together, these data suggest that while drug use is not becoming more common among young people, it is becoming more dangerous,’ study shows.

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IN-DEPTH: Drug Crisis Puts Lives of Adolescents in Jeopardy, Help Not on the Way — Cannabis infused gummies at a medical marijuana dispensary in California, on July 25, 2012. David McNew/Getty Images

By Patricia Tolson

12/15/2023Updated: 12/15/2023

Recent data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) revealed that, while reported cases of illegal drug use among adolescents in 2023 remain below pre-pandemic levels, the rate of deaths due to drug overdose has risen.

The Dec. 13 press release revealed the percentage of adolescents admitting to using illegal substances in 2023—10.9 percent of eighth graders, 19.8 percent of tenthgraders, and 31.2 percent of twelfth graders—remained below levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, according to the latest results from the Monitoring the Future Survey conducted by the NIDA.

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