The new Monitoring the Future survey data is out and while there is some positive news about teenagers and alcohol and other drug use, the news about teenagers and vaping is nothing short of alarming.
Monitoring the Future is a long term epidemiological study which examines teenage use of alcohol and other drugs along with their perception of the risks and peer and parental disapproval of drug use. The study, out of the University of Michigan, has surveyed some 50,000 high schoolers annually since 1975 – first only 12th graders and then adding 8th and 10th graders to the study in 1991. While this year’s data was promising in that teen use of alcohol, marijuana and other illegal drugs like opioids have either dropped or held steady, teen vaping rates have soared.
Monitoring the Future principal investigator Richard Miech has referred to this surge as historic. The reports of past 30 day vaping use by 12th graders increased from 16.6% in 2017 to 26.7% in 2018. Thirty day vaping among 10th graders rose from 13.1% to 21.7% during that period. The numbers of teenagers reporting use of vaping products in the past year are even higher – 17.6% of 8th graders, 32.3% of 10th graders, and 37.3% of 12th graders reported past-year vaping compared with 13.3%, 23.9% and 27.8% respectively in 2017. These trends undermine the huge successes that have been made in reducing teenage cigarette smoking, which is at its lowest point since the study began. Vaping is now the second most common substance used by teenagers, right after alcohol.
While many parents may still believe that the vaping devices used by their teenagers contain only flavorings, teenagers report using these devices to vape nicotine and marijuana. For the second year, the Monitoring the Future survey asked students to report what substances they had consumed via vaping. Even though many students may not know what is in the devices they are using, many understand that many vaping devices contain more than just flavoring.
“Just flavoring” was most commonly reported by 8th graders (15.1 percent), followed by nicotine (10.9 percent) and marijuana (4.4 percent). Tenth graders reported identical rates of “just flavoring” and nicotine vaping (24.7 percent), and the number of 10th graders reporting vaping marijuana was nearly three times that of eighth graders (12.4 percent). A higher percentage of 12th graders reported vaping nicotine (29.7 percent) than flavoring alone (25.7 percent), and their reports of vaping marijuana were similar to those reported by tenth graders (13.1 percent).
What does this report mean for parents? If you haven’t educated yourself about vaping and vaping devices, this report highlights the need for parental awareness. Visit the “Vaping, Juuling and E-Cigarettes” page on our website for more information. Make sure you’re aware of what your teens are doing. Monitoring the Future study participants report that vaping devices are fairly easy or very easy to get – 45.7% of eighth graders, 66.6% of tenth graders and 80.5% of twelfth graders report vaping devices are readily available to them. Most importantly, have conversations with your kids about vaping. Making sure that your children understand the risks and your family values is one of the best ways you can protect them. Look for our upcoming blog post about how to question and talk with your kids in a positive and productive way.
Further reading and resources:
http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/health/vaping-nicotine-teenagers.html
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/12/17/676494200/teen-vaping-soared-in-2018
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/monitoring-future-survey-high-school-youth-trends