Teen girls are abusing drugs far more than their male peers, according to an alarming new study.
Eighteen percent more girls are misusing drugs than boys, while teen drug use overall has steadily risen and the use of opioids, including fentanyl, has skyrocketed, the data showed.
Marijuana remains the overwhelming favorite for both girls and boys, with an estimated 2.9 million people under 18 toking in 2023, according to the most recent data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Abuse of opioids, including heroin and prescription pain relievers like Vicodin and Oxycontin, skyrocketed 41% from 2022 to 2023. After weed, opioids ranked the second most commonly misused drug for teens with 574,000 using them in 2023, up from 406,000 the year before.
While marijuana use among those ages 12 to 17 was about the same as the year prior, all other forms of illicit drug use among teens jumped, with the total number of young users reaching 3.8 million, up 100,000 from 2022.
The deadly opioid fentanyl — which is up to 100 times stronger than morphine — isn’t included in the same category by SAMHSA because users can ingest it unknowingly when it is mixed with other drugs. About 50,000 teens reported misusing it in 2023, a whopping 47% spike from the year before, and figures are likely higher because many could have taken it without realizing.
Stimulants are the third most used drugs among youths. About 285,000 teens reporting taking prescription stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin while the use of cocaine and meth shot up to 63,000 and 40,000 teen users, respectively, up nearly 58% and 112% from the year before.
Inhalants, which include glue, aerosol sprays, cleaning fluids, paint thinners, felt-tip markers and gases like nitrous oxide, or “laughing gas,” ranked fourth among teens with 564,000 kids reporting using them.
In fifth were hallucinogens with 387,000 users — up 8% from the year before.
While use of some drugs was similar between girls and boys, more than 2 million girls used illicit drugs in 2023 compared to just over 1.7 million boys, Wellbrook Recovery, a drug and rehab facility in Wisconsin, found from analyzing the data in SAMHSA’s national survey.
And their preferences differed, too.
After weed, girls reported doing more opioids — mainly prescription pain relievers — and inhalants than boys. Boys chose more stimulants, also mostly prescription meds, and hallucinogens.
“Considering the current opioid crisis in America, the high number of young users is particularly alarming, especially given the potent addictive properties and high overdose risks associated with these substances,” said Wellbrook CEO Meir Kasnett.
Inhalants are easy and cheap to get, Kasnet noted, but can also pose serious threats like brain damage and sudden death.
The shocking stats highlight a need for early intervention and education, he added. “Even more important, it’s essential to understand and address the underlying factors contributing to this usage.”
More than 67,000 interviews were done for the 2023 SAMHSA survey.
SAMHSA defines “misuse” as in drug use which is in any way not directed by a doctor or drug use in greater amounts, more often or longer than directed.
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