Teen marijuana use held steady in 2025 even as legalization continued to expand across the United States, according to new results from a long-running, federally funded survey that tracks substance use among adolescents.
The latest findings from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey show no evidence that state-level cannabis legalization is fueling increased use among middle and high school students—a claim frequently raised by opponents of reform. Instead, usage rates across grade levels remain historically low and largely unchanged from recent years.
The annual survey, supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, examines substance use patterns among 8th, 10th and 12th graders nationwide. This year’s data is based on responses from 23,726 students across 270 public and private schools surveyed between February and June 2025.
Among 12th graders, 25.7 percent reported using marijuana in the past year, a figure consistent with recent surveys and the lowest recorded level since 1992. Past-year use among 10th graders came in at 15.6 percent, while 7.6 percent of 8th graders reported using cannabis during the same period.
Past-month marijuana use followed a similar pattern. About 17.1 percent of high school seniors said they used cannabis in the past 30 days—slightly higher than last year but far below the peak of 37.1 percent recorded in 1978, decades before any state legalized marijuana. Rates for 10th and 8th graders were 9.4 percent and 4 percent, respectively, essentially unchanged from prior years.
The survey also found that abstention from marijuana, alcohol and nicotine remained stable across all grades, with two-thirds of 12th graders and more than 90 percent of 8th graders reporting no recent use of any of the substances.
In addition, researchers examined hemp-derived cannabinoid products such as delta-8 THC. Past-year use of those products was reported by 9 percent of 12th graders, 6 percent of 10th graders and 2 percent of 8th graders.
NIDA Director Nora Volkow said the findings are encouraging but emphasized the need for continued vigilance. “It is critical to continue to monitor these trends closely,” she said, “to support teens in making healthy choices and target interventions where and when they are needed.”
Advocates of legalization say the data further supports the argument that regulated cannabis markets—with age verification and licensed retailers—are more effective at limiting youth access than prohibition, which relies on unregulated illicit markets.
The MTF results align with a growing body of U.S. and international research, including studies from Canada and Europe, showing that youth marijuana use has remained stable or declined in jurisdictions that have legalized and regulated cannabis for adults.
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