Teen Vaping Rises Dramatically; Drinking, Opioid Use Declines

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN (CNN) — Vaping among America’s teenagers continues to climb, while the use of other substances — such as alcohol and opioids — has declined in recent years, according to a new report. Monday’s report, called Monitoring the Future, comes from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research and is based on an annual survey of drug and alcohol use and attitudes among eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders in the United States. This year’s survey included 44,482 students from 392 public and private schools across the country. Behind drinking alcohol, vaping was the second-most common form of substance use, the study showed, with 17.6% of eighth-graders, 32.3% of 10th-graders and 37.3% of 12th-graders reporting vaping in the past year. Last year, the annual survey found that prevalence of vaping was 13.3% among eighth-graders, 23.9% among 10th-graders and 27.8% among 12th-graders. Vaping involves using an electronic cigarette, hookah or similar device to inhale certain vapors or aerosols, which could contain substances such as nicotine, marijuana or flavoring. “What we are seeing is a change in the patterns of drug taking among teenagers in that they are the lowest that we’ve seen for many years,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funded the report. “So we have very good news,” she said, “but at the same time, we have to be ...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health News CNN opioid abuse vaping Source Type: news