High School and Youth Trends. NIDA InfoFacts

Since 1975 the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey has measured drug, alcohol, and cigarette use and related attitudes among adolescent students nationwide. Survey participants report their drug use behaviors across three time periods: lifetime, past year, and past month; for some drugs, daily use is also reported. Initially, the survey included 12th-graders only, but in 1991 it was expanded to include 8th- and 10th-graders. The MTF survey is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and is conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. The 36th annual study was conducted during 2010. This year's Monitoring the Future survey raises concerns about increases in drug use among the Nation's teens, particularly the youngest. This paper provides the highlights of this year's Monitoring the Future survey. (Contains 2 notes.)