December teen survey showed broad stability alongside some drug-use increases
The 2025 school survey kept different substances, grades and reporting periods separate.
- Event / announcement date
- 2025-12-17
- Earliest linked source date
- 2025-12-17
- NewsTumble first published
- 2026-10-25T22:14:43Z
- NewsTumble updated
- 2026-10-25T22:14:43Z
An NIH-supported survey reported on December 17, 2025 that teenagers’ use of most substances remained near the lower levels reached in 2021. Monitoring the Future surveys eighth, 10th and 12th graders about their own behavior. The report described broadly stable results compared with 2024, rather than a new decline in every measure. [1]
For the preceding 30 days, 91% of eighth graders, 82% of 10th graders and 66% of 12th graders reported no marijuana, alcohol or nicotine use. Those figures use a different time window from the release’s past-year estimates. Mixing the windows would change what a percentage means. [1]
The overall pattern also had exceptions. NIH reported significant increases in heroin use across the three grades and in cocaine use among eighth and 12th graders, while emphasizing that levels remained low historically. A low overall headline therefore does not describe every substance or subgroup. [1]
Researchers gathered 23,726 student surveys in 270 public and private schools between February and June 2025, then weighted the responses nationally. These were self-reports from students, a distinction from clinical testing or a census of all teenagers. [1]
The source
- National Institutes of Health: Reported use of most drugs remains low among U.S. teens ↗
Source published 2025-12-17 · reviewed 2026-10-25
About this item: Retrospective source brief. No first-hand reporting or independent testing is claimed. Corrections policy.
