Daily Marijuana Use Reached All-Time High Last Year Among College Students

Daily marijuana use among college students reached an all-time high last year, according to the annual Monitoring the Future study.

Researchers at the University of Michigan found daily marijuana use rose to 7.9% among college students last year — an increase of 3.3% over the past five years. Overall, 44% of college students said they used marijuana in the past year, a 6% increase from 2015, The Hill reports.

Fewer college students reported consuming alcohol in the past year, the study found — 56% of students in 2020, compared with 62% in 2019.

“Daily marijuana use is a clear health risk,” John Schulenberg, lead investigator of the Monitoring the Future panel study, said in a news release. “The brain is still developing in the early 20s, and as the Surgeon General and others have reported, the scientific evidence indicates that heavy marijuana use can be detrimental to cognitive functioning and mental health.”