2019 Monitoring the Future Survey Results
According to the National Monitoring the Future survey, increases in adolescent marijuana vaping from 2018 to 2019 ranked among the largest single-year increases ever observed by in the past 45 years:
20.8% of 12th graders vaped marijuana in 2019, a 58% increase over the 2018 level of 13.1%
19.4% of 10th graders vaped marijuana in 2019, a 56% increase over the 2018 level of 12.4%
7% of 8th graders vaped marijuana in 2019, a 59% increase over the 2018 level of 4.4%
For all secondary students the increases in marijuana vaping translate into at least one million additional marijuana vapers in 2019 as compared to 2018.
The increase in teens vaping marijuana is especially concerning as the CDC reports that the national outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) has been linked to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing e-cigarette, or vaping, products, particularly from informal sources like friends, family, or in-person or online dealers (THC is the psychoactive substance in marijuana).
For more information on the latest findings from the CDC, check out their website (updated weekly). Keep an eye out for the 2020 Illinois Youth Survey results, coming this summer, for the latest information on youth substance use trends in our area.