“Kids who were in eighth grade at the start of the pandemic will be graduating from high school this year, and this unique cohort has ushered in the lowest rates of substance use we’ve seen in decades,” Miech noted.
For alcohol, use in the past 12 months among eighth graders was at 12.9 percent in 2024, similar to 2023 levels, which are all-time lows. For 10th graders, the rate dropped significantly from 30.6 percent in 2023 to 26.1 percent, and for 12th graders, from 45.7 percent to 41.7 percent—both record lows.
For nicotine vaping, rates fell for 10th graders (from 17.5 percent to 15.4 percent) and remained at low levels for eighth and 12th graders. For marijuana, use remained low for eighth and 10th graders and fell significantly for 12th graders (from 29 percent to 25.8 percent). All three grades are at lows not seen since 1990.
For abstainers from alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine in the prior 30 days, the rate among eighth graders hit 90 percent, up from 87 percent in 2017, when it was first measured. The rate was 80 percent among 10th graders, up from 69 percent in 2017, and 67 percent for 12th graders, up from 53 percent in 2017.
“This trend in the reduction of substance use among teenagers is unprecedented,” Nora Volkow, director of NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), said. “We must continue to investigate factors that have contributed to this lowered risk of substance use to tailor interventions to support the continuation of this trend.”
Enlarge/ A man helps a boy look at a handgun during the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meetings & Exhibits at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis on April 16, 2023.
The study, conducted by gun violence researchers at Rutgers University, analyzed survey responses from 870 gun-owning parents. Of those, the parents who responded that they demonstrated proper handling to their child or teen, had their kid practice safe handling under supervision, and/or taught their kid how to shoot a firearm were more likely than other gun-owning parents to keep at least one gun unsecured—that is, unlocked and loaded. In fact, each of the three responses carried at least double the odds of the parent having an unlocked, loaded gun around, the study found.
Still, earlier surveys of gun-owning parents have hinted that some parents believe responsible gun-handling lessons are enough to keep children safe.
Safe handling, unsecured storage
To add data to that potential sentiment, the Rutgers researchers collected survey responses from adults in nine states (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, Colorado, and Washington) who participated in an Ipsos poll. The states span varying geography, firearm ownership, firearm policies, and gun violence rates. The responses were collected between June and July of 2023. The researchers then analyzed the data, adjusting their calculations to account for a variety of factors, including military status, education level, income, and political beliefs.
Among the 870 parents included in the study, 412 (47 percent) said they demonstrated proper firearm handling for their kids, 321 (37 percent) said they had their children practice proper handling with supervision, and 324 (37 percent) taught their kids how to shoot their firearm.
The researchers then split the group into those who did not keep an unlocked, loaded gun around and those who did. Of the 870 gun-owning parents, 720 (83 percent) stored firearms securely, while 150 (17 percent) reported that they kept at least one firearm unlocked and loaded. Compared with the 720 secure-storage parents, the 150 parents with an unlocked, loaded gun had adjusted odds of 2.03-fold higher for saying they demonstrated proper handling, 2.29-fold higher for practicing handling with their kids, and 2.27-fold higher for teaching their kids to shoot.
“Consistent with qualitative research results, these findings suggest that some parents may believe that modeling responsible firearm use negates the need for secure storage,” the authors concluded. “However, it is unknown whether parents’ modeling responsible behavior is associated with a decreased risk of firearm injury.”
