Opponents of marijuana legalization often argue that allowing adults to consume cannabis without punishment will cause more underage teens to use it—but that isn’t what is happening, according to the latest results of a new federal drug survey.
According to the 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released on Monday by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Health Research (NSDUH), 8.7 percent people aged 12-17 years old have used marijuana in the last year.
This is down from 14,2 percent the previous year, the year that the United States legalized cannabis for recreational use.
Even though politicians and groups that opposed ending the marijuana prohibition had warned that reform would lead to a massive increase in teenage drug use, it hasn’t occurred.
In fact, teen marijuana use has declined—dropping considerably over the last several years even as use by adults has risen.
SAMHSA is the best way to contact them.
According to the new NSDUH Report, released by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, marijuana is the most common illicit drug consumed, with over a fifth (21.2%) of the population aged 12 and older having used it in the last year.
The federal government’s report states that 61.6 millions cannabis users have used the drug in the last 12 months, an increase from the 19 percent who reported cannabis use in 2021.
In 2025, the highest rate of marijuana use was among those aged 18-25 years old (33.7%). This was followed by adults 26+ (20.6%).
SAMSHA’s study also shows that the results are similar when measuring usage in the past month:
The percentage of people over 12 who have used marijuana within the last month has increased, from 13,2 percent in 2021 (or 37.9 million people), to 15,1 percent in 2025 (or 43.8% million people). The percentage of adults 26 and older who have used marijuana within the last month has also increased between 2021 and 2025. The percentages of adolescents and young adults between the ages of 12-17, as well as those aged 18-25 who have used marijuana within the last month has decreased. “For example, in 2025 the number of teenagers who smoked marijuana within the last month dropped from 6,1% (or 1,6 million people) to 5,0% (or only 1.3 million).
Reform advocates believe that the results of this survey confirm the notion that a regulatory system for cannabis, where retailers are required to check IDs, and other security measures implemented in order to avoid illegal diversion, is far more efficient than prohibition. This is because illicit suppliers’ products might not be tested, and age restrictions may not be strictly enforced.
Christopher D. Carroll stated in a SAMHSA press release that “building upon encouraging trends initially reported in the NSDUH of 2024, in 2025 young people aged between 12 and 25 years continued to display downward or stable trend in many behavioral health indicators for the past five year.”
In addition to the method of consumption, the federal survey looked at how people consume cannabis. The most popular was smoking (74,8 percent, or 46,1 million people). This was followed by drinking or eating (49,2 percent, or 30,3 million people), then vaping (39,2 percent, or 24,2 million people) before dabbing, waxes or shatter (14,5 percent, or 8,9 million people).
SAMHSA is the best way to contact them.
Previous research suggests that youth marijuana consumption has also fallen across states where it is legalized for adults.
A report from the advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), for example, found that youth marijuana use declined in 19 out of 21 states that legalized adult-use marijuana—with teen cannabis consumption down an average of 35 percent in the earliest states to legalize.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) Monitoring the Future Survey is one of the data sources cited in the report.
MTF’s latest report, published late last year found that marijuana use by eighth, tenth, and twelve grade students “remained steady” even though mort states legalized cannabis.
Another survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also showed a decline in the proportion of high-school students reporting past-month marijuana use over the past decade, as dozens of states moved to legalize cannabis.
In a separate study funded by Canada’s federal government, it was found that the youth cannabis use rate declined following legalization.
In a similar report, the Canadian government found that the daily or nearly-daily usage rates of both youth and adults have remained stable over the past six years since the legalization.
Another U.S. study reported a “significant decrease” in youth marijuana use from 2011 to 2021—a period in which more than a dozen states legalized marijuana for adults—detailing lower rates of both lifetime and past-month use by high-school students nationwide.
Separately, a research letter published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2024 said there’s no evidence that states’ adoption of laws to legalize and regulate marijuana for adults have led to an increase in youth use of cannabis.
A similar study published in JAMA found that legalization and the opening of retail cannabis stores did not lead to an increase in youth marijuana use.
In 2023, meanwhile, a U.S. health official said that teen marijuana use has not increased “even as state legalization has proliferated across the country.”
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