Adult use of cannabis, hallucinogens remain at historically high levels, survey finds

Aug. 30 (UPI) -- The number of U.S. adults using cannabis and hallucinogens remained at historically high levels in 2023 while alcohol use and binge drinking among younger adults continued to drop, researchers said this week.

The latest figures released Thursday from the Monitoring the Future survey by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and the U.S. National Institutes of Health showed that adults in two age cohorts -- 19-to-30 and 35-to-50 -- are continuing their trend of consuming more and more cannabis and hallucinogens, such as LSD and psilocybin mushrooms.

Both groups also reported historically low levels of past-year use of tobacco cigarettes.

But the two cohorts diverge on alcohol, the study found. Among the 19 to 30 age group, binge drinking continued a long-term reduction trend, dropping to all-time lows, while among 35- to 50-year-olds, the prevalence of binge drinking in 2023 increased from five and 10 years ago.

"We have seen that people at different stages of adulthood are trending toward use of drugs like cannabis and psychedelics and away from tobacco cigarettes," Dr. Nora Volkow , director of NIH's National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a statement . "These findings underscore the urgent need for rigorous research on the potential risks and benefits of cannabis and hallucinogens -- especially as new products continue to emerge."

Another notable finding in this year's survey is that among the younger age group, female respondents reported a higher prevalence of past-year cannabis use than male respondents for the first time, reflecting a reversal of the previous gap between sexes. In the 35-to-50 group, meanwhile, male respondents maintained their decade-long higher prevalence of past-year cannabis use over female counterparts.

Overall, cannabis use among adults 19-to-30 reached approximately 42% in the past year, 29% in the past month, and 10% daily use, while among adults 35-to-50, reports of use reached 29%, 19%, and 8%, respectively.

The 2023 results were similar to last year's historically high estimates reflecting five- and 10-year increases for both age groups.

As for alcohol, the intoxicant remained the most used substance reported among adults in the study, but younger adults reported all-time lows in their levels of past month drinking (65%), daily drinking (4%), and binge drinking (27%), with past-month drinking and binge drinking decreasing significantly from 2022.

While the younger cohort drank less, their older counterparts reported past-month alcohol use and binge drinking at slightly higher rates than in the past 10 years.