Report highlights substance use in young adults in US in 2025
Cannabis use remains high among young adults in the United States, according to a report issued by the University of Michigan.
A recent report from the University of Michigan reveals persistently high rates of substance use among young adults in the United States as of 2025. Megan E. Patrick, a researcher at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, led a study surveying around 120,000 people from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) Longitudinal Panel. The report indicates that cannabis use, along with other substances, remained at or near record-high levels among individuals aged 19 to 30.
According to the findings, past 12-month and past 30-day cannabis use in 2025 remained at record levels, with daily cannabis use reaching an all-time high of 11.8% in the past 30 days. Vaping cannabis also hit peak levels, witnessing no significant change from 2024 to 2025. Additionally, there was a notable increase in heroin use, rising from 0.2% to 0.6% during the same period. Hallucinogen/psychedelic use, however, saw a slight decline, from a peak of 8.9% in 2024 to 7.2% in 2025.
Other significant changes from 2024 to 2025 include a decrease in the percentage of individuals driving after cannabis use in the past two weeks, dropping from 13.5% to 8.2%. Notably, nicotine vaping in the past 30 days reached a high prevalence, more than three times higher than the initial measurement conducted in 2017.
Patrick emphasized the importance of studies like the MTF in identifying subtle shifts and trends over time, enabling the identification of areas where additional resources are essential to prevent potential escalations in drug use in the future.
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