Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

Teen Substance Use Hits Record Lows, Continuing Post-Pandemic Decline

Teen drug use in the United States has reached historic lows in 2024, according to data from the Monitoring the Future study, a 50-year initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health. Alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine use among eighth, 10th, and 12th graders has declined dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic, with abstention rates hitting new highs. Non-heroin narcotic use, such as opioids like OxyContin and Percocet, also fell to unprecedented levels.

Experts are surprised that these trends, initially attributed to pandemic-related disruptions, have continued even as normalcy returned. “Kids who were in eighth grade at the start of the pandemic will be graduating this year, and they’ve set a remarkable precedent for abstention,” said Richard Miech, lead researcher of the survey. Rates of alcohol and marijuana use for 12th graders dropped significantly, and nicotine vaping declined across the board. Nora Volkow of the National Institute on Drug Abuse praised the trend as “unprecedented,” emphasizing the need to explore its causes to ensure the positive momentum endures.

PrevPreviousOne Heartland’s Farewell: A Milestone in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS
NextWyoming Land Deal Protects Grand Teton National Park from DevelopmentNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

Students Fix Cars & Give Them To Single Moms

January 29, 2026

When Jessica Rader received the keys to a fully refurbished 2007 gold Prius from students at Louisa County High School in Mineral, Virginia, the 40 year old single mother of three couldn’t hold back tears. It wasn’t just about getting a car, it was about discovering that kids who had

Read More
Happy News

Graduate Student Discovers Youngest Planet Ever Found

January 29, 2026

University of North Carolina graduate student Madyson Barber spent three years scanning the universe for newborn planets one star cluster at a time, and her persistence paid off when she identified the youngest transiting planet ever discovered, a Jupiter sized world named TIDYE-1b that is only 3 million years old.

Read More
Happy News

Scientists Just Weighed Planet, Here’s How

January 29, 2026

Astronomers have achieved something that seemed impossible until now: they successfully weighed a planet floating alone through the Milky Way galaxy with no star to orbit, marking the first time scientists have directly measured both the mass and distance of a rogue planet simultaneously. The Saturn sized world was discovered

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2026 HappyNews.