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Monitoring the Future Survey is a nationwide school-based survey of 47,000 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students. The 37th annual results demonstrate declines among adolescents in all three grades in the use of alcohol, tobacco, and most other illicit drugs, with the notable exception of marijuana.
Alcohol use in the past 30 days was reported by 25% to 50% fewer adolescents in 2011 than 20 years ago, with 13%, 27%, and 40% of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, respectively, reporting such use in 2011. More important, the reported rate of binge drinking (≥5 drinks on 1 occasion in the past 2 weeks) declined from 20% to 14% for the three grades combined.
Smoking among adolescents continued its downward trend from its peak in 1996–1997. In 2011, 2%, 6%…