Marijuana and hallucinogen use, as well as binge drinking, reached “all-time highs” among Americans aged 35 to 50, according to a new report from the National Institutes of Health.
Use of marijuana and hallucinogens, otherwise known as psychedelics, continued an upward trend among the age group, reaching historic highs in 2022.
UP FOR DEBATE: WHERE TRUMP, DESANTIS, AND REST OF REPUBLICAN 2024 FIELD STAND ON BIG TECH
Additionally, recorded levels of binge drinking for adults aged 35 to 50 reached the highest levels “ever recorded for this age group.”
“Substance use is not limited to teens and young adults, and these data help us understand how people use drugs across the lifespan,” National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow said. “Understanding these trends is a first step, and it is crucial that research continues to illuminate how substance use and related health impacts may change over time. We want to ensure that people from the earliest to the latest stages in adulthood are equipped with up-to-date knowledge to help inform decisions related to substance use.”
The data from the Monitoring the Future study, which tracks the substance use behaviors of adults 19 to 60, also found that adults aged 19 to 30 showed historic spikes in marijuana and nicotine vaping in 2022.
Marijuana use among the younger age group rose to 44%, increasing nearly 10% from five years ago, which is coupled with the increased rate of daily use, which increased three points to 11% in the same time frame.
The all-time high for marijuana use for Americans 35 to 50 reached 28% in 2022, which increased from 25% just a year prior and from 17% in 2017.
Vaping marijuana also increased nearly 10% to 21% in the younger cohort, and remained relatively steady at 9% for the older group.
Increases in marijuana use, particularly for young people, come as recent reports have linked use to depression, suicidality, schizophrenia, psychosis, addiction, and other mental health issues.
Despite a 10-year general decline in daily alcohol consumption and binge drinking for Americans 19 to 30, drinking generally increased from 2021 to 2022 from 82% to 84%.
The older age group has experienced a gradual increase over the decade in drinking, including past-month use, daily drinking, and binge drinking, reaching 85% in 2022, but binge drinking reached a historic high of 29% that year, up from 26% in 2021 and 25% in 2017.
Binge drinking is defined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism as a male consuming five or more drinks or a female consuming four or more drinks in about two hours.
The younger age group reported “significantly higher” use of hallucinogens like LSD, MDMA, mescaline, peyote, psilocybin (mushrooms), and PCP, according to the report, spiking to 8% in 2022, up from 5% in 2017.
The vast majority of the psychedelics taken by this group were something other than LSD.
Hallucinogens have gained prominence in recent years.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
MTF principal investigator and University of Michigan research professor Megan Patrick said, “Behaviors and public perception of drug use can shift rapidly, based on drug availability and other factors.”
Nicotine vaping among Americans 19 to 30 nearly doubled in the past five years, to reach the historic rate of 24% in 2022. The older cohort stayed generally the same at 7%.
