Adolescent drug use in the US largely declined in 2024, with one exception: nicotine pouches. Compared with the previous year, their use roughly doubled among teenagers, though overall rates remain low.
Between February and June 2024, at the University of Michigan and his colleagues surveyed more than 24,200 adolescents at 272 secondary schools across the US. For students in 8th, 10th and 12th grade 鈥� which typically corresponds to ages 13 to 14, 15 to 16 and 17 to 18, respectively 鈥� use of almost every drug either fell or remained steady in 2024.
The are part of the , an annual report that has been tracking drug and alcohol use in the US since 1975. It indicates adolescent drug use has been declining since the covid-19 pandemic, though it isn鈥檛 clear why.
Advertisement
鈥淲e all expected that when social-distancing policies lifted, that drug use would return to normal, or at least back to pre-pandemic levels, but that hasn鈥檛 happened,鈥� says Miech. 鈥淚n fact, drug use has fallen even further, so we鈥檙e really in uncharted territory here.鈥� For instance, teen use of the most popular substances 鈥� alcohol, cannabis and vaped nicotine 鈥� declined in 2024.
The one exception is nicotine pouches, such as ZYN, On! and Rogue, which contain nicotine, flavourings and other ingredients instead of tobacco leaf. The percentage of 12th graders who reported using them in the past year grew from 3 to 6 per cent between 2023 and 2024. Among 10th graders, use rose from 2 to 3 per cent.
Their various flavours and covert nature make these products appealing to adolescents. 鈥淵ou can put them between your cheek and your jaw, and you don鈥檛 have to spit,鈥� says Miech. 鈥淵ou can keep it there throughout an entire class, and nobody would even know you鈥檙e using it.鈥�
Because nicotine pouches are relatively new, we don鈥檛 yet have a good grasp on their potential health effects, says Miech. However, we do know they can be addictive. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to see kids get addicted to anything, and there is no question that you can get addicted to nicotine pouches,鈥� says at the University of Michigan, who wasn鈥檛 involved in the study.
鈥淏ut the pouches are probably about as safe as any [nicotine] product out there,鈥� he says, so the spike shouldn鈥檛 be a major cause for alarm 鈥� especially since overall rates remain low compared with other substances, such as vaped nicotine.
The US has also made remarkable progress in combatting adolescent cigarette use. Smoking rates are at an all-time low 鈥� less than half a percentage point for each grade. A slight jump in nicotine pouch use shouldn鈥檛 overshadow this significant public health achievement.
