Monitoring the Future

The Monitoring the Future (MTF) study, also known as the National High School Senior Survey,[1] is a long-term epidemiological study that surveys trends in legal and illicit drug use among American adolescents and adults as well as personal levels of perceived risk and disapproval for each drug.

[2] Nationally representative samples of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students (The 2010 MTF survey encompassed about 46,500 students from almost 400 schools nationwide[2]) receive a questionnaire investigating substance use patterns, attitudes and beliefs about drugs, perceived availability of drugs, and norms among peer and role model groups.

Questionnaire questions also explore subjects' occupational and educational plans and experiences, attitudes about gender roles, attitudes and experiences with people of a different race/ethnicity, trust in government and other institutions, concerns about the environment, media consumption, victimization and delinquency, among other things.

Follow-up studies into adulthood also cover marriage and family formation, college attendance, military service, civilian employment, unemployment, and other topics.

Chart is for regular marijuana and cigarette use by 12th graders in the USA in the past 30 days.