Adult Marijuana And Psychedelics Use Now At ‘Historic Highs’ While Teen Consumption Remains Stable, Federally Funded Study Finds

While underage marijuana use has remained stable amid the legalization movement, a new federally funded study shows that adult consumption of cannabis, as well as of psychedelics, reached a “record high” last year.

The annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey—which is conducted by the University of Michigan with support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)—found that past-year marijuana use among those aged 19-30 hit 44 percent in 2022, while 28 percent of older adults aged 35-50 said they used cannabis in the last 12 months.

About 29 percent of young adults said they used marijuana in the past month as well, and 11 percent said they consumed daily. The older cohort reported past-month cannabis use at 17 percent and daily consumption at 7 percent.

This has been a consistent theme in the MTF survey, with adults using marijuana more often as more states enact legalization. But while opponents of the reform have long argued that allowing and regulating cannabis sales would drive underage use, the same study has shown that isn’t the case, as teen marijuana consumption remained stable last year, even as coronavirus pandemic restrictions lifted and socialization normalized.

The survey data released on Thursday doesn’t explicitly say that adult use trends are linked to legalization, it does note that the “legal status of marijuana at the state level, as well as how it is talked about in the literature and society at large, is changing.”

Another drug policy reform movement has taken root in the U.S. in recent years, with numerous jurisdictions moving to decriminalize or legalize certain psychedelics as interest in their potential therapeutic benefits has increased. And the MTF study finds that adults are also using those substances at a higher rate.

The rate of past-year use of hallucinogenic substances among those aged 19-30 reached eight percent in 2022, which is statistically comparable to the prior year but nearly double the rate from five years ago when only 4.5 percent of young adults said they’d consumed them in the past twelve months. Conversely, four percent of adults aged 35-50 used psychedelics in the past year—which is double the rate that group reported in 2021 and four times the rate from five years ago.

This #research also showed that younger adults reported marijuana, vaping, and hallucinogen use at or near historically high levels. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/L6PvKcyGFO

— NIDAnews (@NIDAnews) August 17, 2023

“This increase was driven by hallucinogens other than LSD, the prevalence of which significantly increased from over the past 5 years (from 3.1 percent in 2017) and 10 years (from 2.9 percent in 2012) to 7.0 percent in 2022,” the survey says. The “exception” to the psychedelics trend is MDMA, the use of which did not significantly change last year compared to 2021.

As with marijuana, the 2022 MTF survey of teens, which was published late last year, showed that psychedelics use has not significantly changed over the last 20 years.

“Substance use is not limited to teens and young adults, and these data help us understand how people use drugs across the lifespan,” NIDA Director Nora Volkow said in a press release on Thursday. “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,” she said.

With respect to marijuana, the latest data seems to show that adults are taking advantage of the expansion of the legal market at the state level while cannabis remains federally prohibited. In addition to the part of the trend that is accounted for by actual new use, it also possible that with legalization becoming the norm across the country, more adults simply feel comfortable being honest about their ongoing marijuana habits as part of federally funded surveys such as the MTF.

A Gallup poll released this month also found that fully half of all American adults have tried marijuana at some point in their lives, with rates of active cannabis consumption surpassing that of tobacco. Broken down by age, 29 percent of those 18-34 say they currently smoke marijuana, though that’s not necessarily representative of overall cannabis use because the survey only asked about smoking and not other modes of consumption such as edibles, vaping or tinctures.

Meanwhile, as consumption patterns shift among adults, another recent analysis from Gallup reveals the partisan gap in support for cannabis legalization. A majority of Republicans and Democrats, as well as those who lean toward one party or the other, both support ending prohibition, but Democrats have more quickly embraced the issue over the past two decades.

But increased public support for legalization and expanded access to state level markets has so far not translated into any discernible jump in underage marijuana use, despite the repeated claims of prohibitionists that it would.

While the MTF survey showed that youth cannabis consumption remained stable last year, another analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that rates of current and lifetime cannabis use among high school students have continued to drop amid the legalization movement.

What was especially notable about the data is that it found high school student use was trending up from 2009-2013—before legal marijuana dispensaries started opening—but has been generally on the decline since then. The first state recreational legalization laws were approved by voters in 2012, with regulated retail sales beginning in 2014.

A separate NIDA-funded study that was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine last year also found that state-level cannabis legalization is not associated with increased youth use.

The study demonstrated that “youth who spent more of their adolescence under legalization were no more or less likely to have used cannabis at age 15 years than adolescents who spent little or no time under legalization.”

Yet another federally funded study from Michigan State University researchers that was published in the journal PLOS One last year found that “cannabis retail sales might be followed by the increased occurrence of cannabis onsets for older adults” in legal states, “but not for underage persons who cannot buy cannabis products in a retail outlet.”

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Photo courtesy of Martin Alonso.

FDA Clears Researchers To Study MDMA Use By Therapists Being Trained In Psychedelic Medicine

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already authorized clinical trials into the therapeutic potential of MDMA for patients with post-traumatic stress disorders—but now it’s given the green light to a psychedelics research institute to expand its studies by administering the substance to certain therapists.

Volunteer therapists who are being trained to treat people with PTSD will be able to participate in the Phase 1 trials to gain personal experience with the treatment option. This is a complementary research project that comes as the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is in the process of conducting Phase 3 trials involving people with the disorder.

The development comes months after Canadian regulators announced that certain therapists would be allowed to take psilocybin in order to gain a better understanding of the psychedelic when treating patients.

MAPS sought permission to proceed with the therapist-specific trials in 2019, but FDA placed them on a 20-month hold because of concerns about the merits, risks and credentials of investigators. MAPS appealed that hold, providing evidence about the study’s scientific value and ability of its staff, and FDA cleared them on Tuesday.

The U.S. FDA granted MAPS' appeal of the clinical hold on the Phase 1 #research study to assess the safety and psychological effects of #MDMA-assisted #therapy in healthy volunteer therapists.

Read the full press release: https://t.co/1PUJ9mpIQkpic.twitter.com/MnEyUSY6TB

— MAPS (@MAPS) May 13, 2021

The organization “chose to dispute” FDA’s hold not just because of the impact it had on the planned studies, “but in an attempt to resolve an ongoing issue with the FDA regarding investigator qualifications across studies,” it said in a press release on Wednesday.

“While the term ‘dispute’ may seem adversarial, this process can actually strengthen the relationship and trust between us and our review Division and ensures the Division has support on this project from the [FDA] Office of Neuroscience,” MAPS Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) CEO Amy Emerson said. “This decision demonstrates how our strategic, data-driven strategy in challenging the FDA rulings can be successful.”

Now MAPS is able to launch the Phase 1 clinical trials into MDMA-assisted therapy for therapists.

It will be designed to “measure development of self-compassion, professional quality of life, and professional burnout among clinicians delivering the treatment to patients,” the association said.

Getting personal experience with the substance “is widely considered to be an important element in preparation and training to deliver psychedelic-assisted therapies.”

This will “support the goals of the MDMA Therapy Training Program to provide comprehensive training to future providers,” and it “builds capacity to deliver quality, accessible care to patients, pending approval of MDMA-assisted therapy as a legal prescription treatment,” MAPS PBC Director and Head of Training and Supervision Shannon Carlin said.

FDA first granted MAPS’s request for an emergency use authorization for MDMA in PTSD in 2017. The organization expects to complete its Phase 3 trails in 2022.

The scientific expansion move also comes as the psychedelics decriminalization movement continues to build in the U.S.

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How Democrats Helped Republicans Shut Down AOC’s Psychedelics Research Measure

In a sweeping rejection of what advocates regarded as a commonsense drug reform measure, a large majority of Democratic House members joined all but seven Republicans on Thursday in a vote against an amendment that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) filed to expand research into the potential benefits of psychedelic substances.

The measure, which was cleared by the House Rules Committee and was initially approved in a voice vote earlier Thursday morning, was soundly defeated in a 91 to 331 afternoon roll call vote. Democrats accounted for 148 of those “nay” votes.

Ocazio-Cortez’s amendment would have removed a longstanding rider, first enacted in 1996, that prohibits the use of federal funds for “any activity that promotes the legalization of any drug or other substance in Schedule I.”

Supporters argued that the rider inhibits research into controlled substances that hold potential therapeutic potential, with Ocasio-Cortez pointing specifically to psilocybin and MDMA as examples of understudied drugs that could alleviate symptoms of conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Cannabis is also a Schedule I substance that is more difficult to research due to its Schedule I status.

“It’s disappointing to hear folks say things like ‘the War on Drugs is a failure’ and that ‘we should treat drugs as a health issue and not a criminal justice issue’ then vote to uphold drug war relic language like this,” Dan Riffle, senior counsel and policy advisor in Ocasio-Cortez’s office, told Marijuana Moment. “It was last minute though, and a lot of folks weren’t sure what the amendment would do. I’m glad we brought some attention to the issue, and I think next year with more time to educate you’ll see a very different result.”

In a tweet posted ahead of the vote, the congresswoman acknowledged that while the amendment had bipartisan appeal, it also had bipartisan opposition. The opposition proved much stronger in the end, leaving reform advocates dismayed.

“It’s disappointing to see so many members vote to keep an outdated gag order in place,” Michael Collins, director of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, told Marijuana Moment. “The road to ending the drug war is a long one, and we got a reminder of that today.”

Michael Liszewski, a policy advisor with Students for Sensible Drug Policy, told Marijuana Moment that Ocasio-Cortez introducing the amendment “helped raise the profile of this issue.”

“I think one reason the amendment failed was a lack of understanding of the issue by many members, so voting against the amendment was the instinctually safe move to make,” he said. “With increased awareness of how the ‘gag order’ provision prevents scientific research that we may see a different outcome next year if the amendment is offered again.”

Another reason for the amendment’s failure could be that Democratic leadership declined to give members a directive to support it in a list of recommendations distributed on Thursday morning. House Labor, HHS, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), whose panel drafted the section of the overall bill that Ocasio-Cortez sought to amend, offered “no recommendation” for the measure, whereas every other listed Democratic amendment was given a “vote yes” directive.

The amendment’s opponents include several members who usually lend their support to drug reform legislation as well as committee chairs and members of Democratic leadership. Reps. Charlie Crist (D-FL) and Dave Joyce (R-OH) rejected the amendment despite their typical support for marijuana reform.

Opponents in leadership positions include House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), Veterans’ Affairs Chair Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), former Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-NY) and DeLauro.

Many of the usual cannabis reform suspects did vote in favor of the amendment, however: Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Steve Cohen (D-TN), amendment cosponsor Lou Correa (D-CA), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Denny Heck (D-WA), amendment cosponsor Ro Khanna (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Joe Neguse (D-CO), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Ocasio-Cortez, Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Dina Titus (D-NV) all voted aye.

Democratic leaders who voted in support include Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Rules Committee Chair Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY).

The Republicans who voted in favor of the amendment are Reps. Justin Amash (R-MI), amendment cosponsor Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Brian Mast (R-MI), Thomas McClintock (R-CA) and Don Young (R-AK).

Finally, three 2020 Democratic presidential candidates supported the measure. Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Tim Ryan (D-OH) voted aye. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who is also running for president, was absent during the vote on the psychedelics measure as well as those on other measures taken around the same time.

“Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s amendment would have removed the bureaucratic red tape and legal hoops that scientists currently have to navigate in order to study the potential medical benefits of controlled substances,” Khanna told Marijuana Moment. “This includes cannabis, which is legal for medicinal use in more than two dozen states, and other compounds that have shown promise in treating depression, PTSD, and addiction.”

“I am an advocate for robust research investment to maintain America’s global leadership in science and medicine, and I supported this amendment because it would have unshackled our scientists from restrictions implemented at the height of the failed War on Drugs,” he said.

.@RepAOC’s amendment would have removed the bureaucratic red tape and legal hoops that scientists currently have to navigate in order to study the potential medical benefits of controlled substances. 1/3

— Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) June 13, 2019

I am an advocate for robust research investment to maintain America’s global leadership in science and medicine, and I supported this amendment because it would have unshackled our scientists from restrictions implemented at the height of the failed War on Drugs. 3/3

— Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) June 13, 2019

“I applaud 91 of my Republican and Democratic colleagues for courageously standing up for medical research,” Correa told Marijuana Moment. “As elected leaders, we must never be afraid to take risks when our constituents’ lives and health are on the line. Schedule 1 substances may be controversial but they hold great medical promise.”

“I am proud to have joined my colleague Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez in support of her potentially life-saving amendment,” he said. “For far too long, we have allowed the debate surrounding schedule 1 drugs to be informed by personal opinions and not science. This amendment would have given the power back to doctors and researcher so that they can tell us what these misunderstood substances can be used for.”

“I will not stop fighting for those yearning for new treatments and will continue to advocate for medical research—regardless the substance.”

Thank you @RepAOC for courageously standing up for medical #research.

For too long, the debate about cannabis, psilocybin & others has been informed by personal opinions, not #science.

I will not stop fighting for new treatments—regardless of the substance. Lives depend on it.

— Rep. Lou Correa (@RepLouCorrea) June 13, 2019

Ocasio-Cortez said that while the amendment failed, she is “undeterred” and “proud we were even able to bring a vote on psychedelic research to the House floor.”

Sadly our drug research amendment failed today, but I’m undeterred.

I’m proud we were even able to bring a vote on psychedelic research to the House floor.

30% of veterans have considered suicide. These drugs show extreme promise in treating PTSD + more.

Let’s keep at it. https://t.co/Hf6bsN7ws4

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 13, 2019

These drugs show extreme promise in treating PTSD + more,” she wrote. “Let’s keep at it.”

Natalie Ginsberg, director of policy and advocacy at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), said that advocates hope to keep building support over time for removing political roadblocks to research.

“As we see everyday in our work at MAPS, and as evidenced by the bipartisan support for this proposed amendment, we remain encouraged that our elected representatives will continue working together across the aisle to get politics out of the way of research into the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics and cannabis,” she said.

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This story was updated to include comment from Ocazio-Cortez’s staff and MAPS.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Mushroom Observer.