Marijuana vape pens. Credit score: Jeremy Marble
Flavored marijuana vaping is now the most typical type of use amongst American youngsters who vape hashish, in response to new findings from the College of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future surveys.
The examine is revealed within the Journal of Adolescent Well being.
The analysis discovered significantly sharp will increase amongst youthful teenagers between 2021 and 2024. Amongst eighth graders who vaped marijuana, the share utilizing flavored options jumped from 47% in 2021 to 63% in 2024. The development was related for older college students, with use climbing from 41% to 53% for tenth graders and from 36% to 50% for twelfth graders.
“The findings suggest that these products are gaining traction among youth. In fact, since the pandemic onset in 2020, youth appear to be turning toward these products while reducing their use of all other drugs,” stated Richard Miech, principal investigator of the Monitoring the Future examine at U-M’s Institute for Social Analysis.
The general proportion of marijuana customers who selected to vape the drug additionally grew over the examine interval. Amongst eighth graders who had used marijuana previously 12 months, the share who vaped it elevated from 48% to 57%. In tenth grade, the quantity went from 60% to 66%, and amongst twelfth graders, it rose from 58% to 67%.
“Flavored vaping solutions offer a discreet mode of cannabis use, with flavors apparently enhancing their appeal,” Miech stated. “The examine outcomes counsel {that a} rising proportion of youth finds the newly obtainable flavors—particularly fruit flavors—extra engaging than the usual hashish style.
“Vaping does not produce the distinctive odor that comes from smoking cannabis, and vaping devices can be quickly concealed if an authority figure appears unexpectedly.”
Extra addictive?
This improve in those that vaped highlights rising public well being issues about altering patterns of substance use amongst teenagers.
“As for health consequences of cannabis use, one of the most potentially serious is addiction,” Miech stated. “Should cannabis use become more popular among youth in future years, then a greater number will end up with an addiction that can impair their social and academic life. Many people may not realize that more adolescents meet the criteria for cannabis use disorder than for alcohol use disorder, with 5% affected by cannabis compared to 3% for alcohol.”
These outcomes level to flavored marijuana vaping options as a essential space for future analysis and coverage growth. The examine’s authors counsel that these findings underscore the necessity for focused insurance policies, interventions and academic campaigns to handle and mitigate this escalating concern amongst younger individuals.
“Our survey includes questions on both cannabis’s perceived risk and its social acceptability,” Miech stated. “Interestingly, perceived risk among adolescents actually increased over the study period from 2021–24, and social acceptability has gone down. That being said, our questions so far have been about cannabis use in general, and not flavored cannabis solutions, which students may view differently.”
Would proscribing flavored vapes work?
Current developments in adolescent hashish vaping increase issues about one of the best ways to guard youth. Limiting flavors might appear to be a straightforward resolution, however it’s on no account a assured success, researchers stated.
Teenagers who search flavored hashish merchandise might simply shift to unflavored choices or return to smoking hashish in conventional kinds. On the identical time, adults in states with authorized hashish might resist limits on taste decisions, and business lobbying might block such insurance policies.
“An alternative approach to restricting the supply of cannabis flavors is to restrict demand,” Miech stated. “That is, to reduce teens’ interest in and willingness to use cannabis, including flavored vaping solutions. A demand reduction approach has been very effective for cigarettes.”
Proof from earlier research on cigarette use helps this method. In 1998, 35% of twelfth graders had used cigarettes previously month. By 2024, that quantity had dropped to three%. Cigarettes remained authorized and obtainable, however broad-based media campaigns, public training and tighter guidelines on advertising to youth drove the change.
“In my view, the cannabis industry should be deeply concerned about any rise in youth cannabis use,” Miech stated. “In today’s polarized political climate, there are few issues with bipartisan appeal, but portraying the cannabis industry as a threat to children could well be one of them.”
Extra data:
Richard Miech et al, Developments in US Adolescent Use of Vaping and Flavored Options for Marijuana Consumption, 2021–2024, Journal of Adolescent Well being (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2025.07.004
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Flavored marijuana vapes changing into new face of teenage drug use, sparking dependancy fears (2025, September 25)
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