According to a recent study published in the journal Clinical Toxicology, adolescent cannabis abuse has increased by 245 percent since 2000 in the United States, while alcohol abuse has steadily decreased over the same period.
The experts identified over 338,000 instances of intentional abuse or misuse among American children aged 6-18 (the majority – 58.3 percent – occurring in males, and over 80 percent of reported cases occurring in adolescents aged 13-18), suggesting that marijuana consumption is currently on the rise within this demographic.
The findings demonstrate a significant pattern of change in drug consumption over the years. For instance, although dextromethorphan (DXM) – a dissociative substance found in over-the-counter cough medicines – was the most reported substance over the study period. This peaked in 2006 and steadily decreased since then.
Similarly, the largest number of abuse cases in 2000 involved alcoholic beverages. Since then, adolescent abuse of alcohol has declined.
By contrast, marijuana exposure cases remained relatively stable from 2000 to 2009, then steadily increased from 2011, with an even more dramatic rise between 2017 and 2020. According to the scientists, this rise in marijuana consumption among children and teenagers could be attributed to the increased popularity of edible cannabis products, which are now widely available across the United States.
“Ethanol abuse cases exceeded the number of marijuana…
