Cannabis Consumption Among College-Aged Youth at 30-Year High

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap]s cannabis enters the mainstream and the stigma behind “Reefer Madness” becomes a thing of the past, college students are consuming cannabis at rates not seen in three decades according to new research from the University of Michigan. Findings from the ongoing Monitoring the Future study of drug use by young people and adults show that cannabis use by young adults aged 19-22 rose in 2017, continuing a decade-long trend.

Researchers found 38 percent of full-time college students aged 19-22 reported consuming cannabis at least once in the past 12 months, and that 21 percent had used cannabis in the past 30 days. For people in the same age group that aren’t enrolled in college, 41 percent reported using cannabis in the past 12 months and 28 percent in the past 30 days. “In this country, laws are changing, attitudes are changing, people are not perceiving use, even regular use, as dangerous as they used to,” said John Schulenberg, co-author of the study. Schulenberg said that most of the cannabis use reported was from non-college students.

The study found that in 2017, 27 percent of people aged 19-22 believed regular use of cannabis as carrying great risk of harm, the lowest number since 1980. That number peaked at 75 percent in 1991, when cannabis use at the age range was at historic lows.

Researchers also found college students in the age range are more likely to use cannabis than opioids or cigarettes. In 2017, 18 percent of the age group reported using illegal drugs. Non-medical prescription drug use is at its lowest point since the late 1990s and cigarette smoking reached a record low of 7.9 percent since the 1980. However, Schulenberg mentions there is no definite way to know if cannabis has replaced the use of the other drugs.