Marijuana, hallucinogen use soars among college students as alcohol loses popularity

College students smoke weed; it’s all in the data. But now a new study shows they are lighting up at the highest recorded levels since the 1980s.

Just five years ago, 38% of college students reported using marijuana. In 2020, that percentage grew to 44%. Daily or near daily use of weed also rose among the group, from 5% in 2015 to 8% in 2020 — and cannabis is not all they’re enjoying.

Hallucinogens, including LSD, psilocybin, mushrooms and other psychedelic substances, are rising in popularity. In 2019, about 5% of surveyed college students reported taking hallucinogens compared to nearly 9% in 2020.

Meanwhile, alcohol is losing some of its appeal. There was a “significant drop” in its annual use among college students last year, with 56% reporting alcohol use in the past 30 days, 28% reporting being drunk in the last 30 days and 24% reporting binge drinking, compared to 62%, 35% and 32% in 2019, respectively.

And unlike the last couple of years have shown, the number of college students vaping marijuana and nicotine leveled off in 2020 after dramatic annual increases since 2017.

The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research team said its new findings are unique in that they offer a glimpse into the possible impacts the pandemic has had on substance use among young people.

“The pandemic has caused fundamental changes in the daily lives of teens and adults, including disrupting school and work life, increasing time spent alone and with family members, and decreasing time spent with classmates, workmates, and peers,” the researchers said. “This endemic disruption is likely to affect substance use.”

Cigarette smoking also declined over the last five years to “all-time lows” in 2020, along with nonmedical use of amphetamines, including ADHD medications, and prescription opioid misuse.

Last year’s data was based on a survey of more than 1,500 college-aged people who answered survey questions between March and November 2020. The Monitoring the Future study has been tracking substance use among young people since 1980. The new research combines research from the last three-and-a-half decades.

It’s unclear why college students are smoking more weed than ever, but a separate study found that states that enacted recreational marijuana laws from 2012 to 2017 were 18% more likely to have used cannabis in the last 30 days, according to Healthline, compared to college students in states where it was illegal.

Consequently, in states where recreational marijuana was legalized, college students reported binge drinking less often.