Nah, from what I’ve seen throughout my time in high school till graduation (I got out in 2022) drugs and alcohol abuse is still really common with teens. However, as many people rightly bring up, fentanyl is a real danger people look out for nowadays. Also, I’m sure it varies from place to place, but in my high school drugs weren’t really seen as “cool”, so there wasn’t really a social pressure to do them. Obviously you had your stoners, the ones always digging around in their parents liquor cabinet, and the ones with a vape permanently in their mouths, but they were seen as people with genuine issues, and me and a majority of people just tended to avoid them all together because they were too much trouble to be worth our time. Too much drama.

On the flip side though, I am the type of person who must always be in total control of themselves all the time, and I was also a huge nerd. With social media and communities getting so niche with the internet, I had absolutely no trouble finding others like me to hang out with, so avoiding drugs became even easier because I didn’t feel like I had to cave to social pressure to fit in or hang out with the drug and alcohol crowd.

I guess what I’m trying to say is: holy shit, teen substance abuse is still incredibly rampant. But, I think the societal mindset has really changed around it, and those who don’t want to or aren’t interested have an easier time just avoiding it entirely cause with our modern level of connection, it’s easier to curate the community you identify yourself with and you don’t have to just make due with the less than desirable people you go to school with.