More NJ Young Adults Are Smoking Pot, Trying Hallucinogens: Study

NEW JERSEY – More young adults in the U.S. have been smoking pot and taking hallucinogens such as “magic mushrooms” over the past decade, but alcohol is still overwhelmingly the drug of choice among 19 to 30-year-olds, a study says.

The numbers are a bit more unclear in New Jersey. However, separate statistics suggest that teenagers in the Garden State are less likely to have used drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin in the last month than the average U.S. teen.

Recently, a report backed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said that marijuana and hallucinogen use in the past year among the above age group “increased significantly” in 2021 as compared to five and 10 years ago.

Read this year’s annual “Monitoring the Future” report and see its methodology here.

How many more young adults are trying cannabis, LSD or magic mushrooms nationwide? Here’s what the panel study said:

MARIJUANA – “Past-year, past-month, and daily marijuana use (use on 20 or more occasions in the past 30 days) reached the highest levels ever recorded since these trends were first monitored in 1988. The proportion of young adults who reported past-year marijuana use reached 43% in 2021, a significant increase from 34% five years ago (2016) and 29% 10 years ago (2011). Marijuana use in the past month was reported by 29% of young adults in 2021, compared to 21% in 2016 and 17% in 2011. Daily marijuana use also significantly increased during these time periods, reported by 11% of young adults in 2021, compared to 8% in 2016 and 6% in 2011.”

HALLUCINOGENS – “Past-year hallucinogen use had been relatively stable over the past few decades until 2020, when reports of use started to increase dramatically. In 2021, 8% of young adults reported past-year hallucinogen use, representing an all-time high since the category was first surveyed in 1988. By comparison, in 2016, 5% of young adults reported past-year hallucinogen use, and in 2011, only 3% reported use. Types of hallucinogens reported by participants included LSD, MDMA, mescaline, peyote, ‘shrooms’ or psilocybin, and PCP. The only hallucinogen measured that significantly decreased in use was MDMA (also called ecstasy or Molly), showing statistically significant decreases within one year as well as the past five years – from 5% in both 2016 and 2020 to 3% in 2021.”

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Meanwhile, alcohol remains the most used substance among young adults by far, with 81.8 percent of them having at least one drink over the past 12 months as compared to 42.6 percent having consumed marijuana, researchers said.

Young adults' use of "other drugs" such as heroin, cocaine and amphetamines remained steady, but made up only 18.3 percent of the total. Researchers noted that heroin use was "uncommon," at only 0.2 percent among young adults, and has "significantly decreased" over the past 10 years from 0.4 percent in 2011.

Amphetamine use was reported by 5.6 percent of young adults in 2021, and the use of narcotic opioids other than heroin was reported by 1.7 percent of young adults. Cocaine use was reported by 5.5 percent of young adults in 2021, peaking at 7.3 percent at ages 25 to 26 and then declining through age 30.

So what about New Jersey?

This year's Monitoring the Future report didn't break the stats down by state. But according to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics – which partly bases its numbers on the annual study – "teenagers" in the Garden State are 7.49 percent less likely to have used drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin in the last month than the average U.S. teen. However, they’re 3.66 percent more likely to use alcohol than the average American in their age group.

Some New Jersey statistics the group cites include:

• About 7.71% of 12- to 17-year-olds reported using “drugs” in the last month. Among those who did, 86.54% reported using marijuana.
• About 9.48% of all 12- to 17-year-olds used alcohol in the last month.

New Jersey has also tried to get a sense of the scope of drug use among its younger adults by measuring “substance abuse” statistics.

According to the state’s 2021 overview, which measured the previous calendar year, about 41 percent of all patients who were admitted for treatment reported that their “primary drug” was heroin. Roughly 32 percent said they mainly abused alcohol, and 9 percent said their primary drug was marijuana.

However, the vast majority of those who received treatment were adults over 30, state officials noted:

• Under 18 – 1%
• 18 to 21 – 4%
• 22 to 24 – 6%
• 25 to 29 – 16%
• 30 to 34 – 18%
• 35 to 44 – 25%
• 45 to 54 – 18%
• 55 and over – 12%

DRUGS IN NEW JERSEY

Opinions remain split on the effects of marijuana in New Jersey, even after the state legalized recreational cannabis for adults in a landmark 2020 ballot question. Voters gave the greenlight to legal weed by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Read More: 5 Things You Need To Know About Marijuana Legalization In NJ

Some elected officials in New Jersey have pointed to the increased potency of cannabis from decades ago, which they allege may have “severe health issues for the general public,” including juveniles – even though state law prohibits the sale of recreational marijuana to anyone under 21.

According to the NJ Poison Control Center at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, it assisted in the medical treatment of more than 150 children who were exposed to cannabis edibles last year – although each case was “accidental.”

“Our state has now made it easier for minors to get their hands on high-potency marijuana which will severely impact brain development and potentially lead to addiction and psychosis,” state Assemblymen Greg McGuckin (District 10) said in August, speaking alongside two other Republican lawmakers.

“Whatever revenue generated from recreational sales isn’t worth the health risks caused to our youths,” McGuckin said.

But other elected officials have had different opinions when it comes to some of the state’s most commonly used drugs.

Earlier this year, Senate President Nicholas Scutari sponsored a bill that would decriminalize the production, dispensation and use of psilocybin for people 21 or older. It would also expunge past and pending offenses involving the compound, which is naturally present in some hallucinogens, such as magic mushrooms.

Psilocybin is listed as a Schedule I drug under the United Nations 1971 Convention of Psychotropic Substances, indicating it has a high potential for abuse and no recognized medical uses. But psilocybin mushrooms have several medical uses, play a part in dozens of cultures and show significantly lower potential for abuse than other Schedule I drugs, according to more recent research. The FDA has designated psilocybin as a breakthrough therapy for treating major depressive disorder. Read More: First Weed, Then Mushrooms? NJ Senate Pres. Proposes Decriminalization

Likewise, many New Jersey health experts and the FDA have recognized the healing potential of cannabis, which has been shown to be beneficial for cancer patients and people who experience medical conditions such as seizures and epilepsy, as well as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and chronic pain.

“I’ve utilized all different pain medications in the past,” one cannabis user told state officials in 2017. “But in order to feel any relief I had to take so much it caused other issues … the only thing that seems to help is marijuana.”

• See related article: New Jersey Marijuana Patients Offer Human Side To Weed Debate

Other recent studies have questioned the “Gateway” theory, when it comes to marijuana use among teens and young adults, which assumes that youth will want to try other drugs after they sample their first joint.

According to data published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, despite fears to the contrary, young adults’ use of alcohol, cigarettes and pain medications actually decreased in Washington after the state legalized cannabis for adults. And jurisdictions that legalize adult-use marijuana access experience a sharp decline in the public’s use of unregulated synthetic cannabinoid products, such as Spice and K2, according to newly published data in the Journal of Clinical Toxicology.

“Real-world data from legalization states disputes longstanding claims that cannabis is some sort of ‘gateway’ substance,” said Paul Armentano of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

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