Consequences of Recent Drug Trends: A Look at the Past Decade

The consequences of drug abuse are widespread, affecting users, their loved ones, and society at large in many ways. While people have long used substances, the most popular recreational drugs of today are vastly different than they were in decades past. Some substances have caused addiction struggles for a long time, such as alcohol and nicotine, which also happen to be the most widely used drugs even today. However, new trends and emerging threats like drugs laced with fentanyl have shuffled the list of what tends to cause the most addictions and physical and mental damage these days.

In modern years, an ongoing opioid crisis has rightfully earned a spotlight as a significant threat to the population, mainly driven now by the cheap and easily manufactured illegal fentanyl that is laced with many other drugs and can easily cause a fatal overdose. Marijuana usage is also more widespread and has become legal for recreational use in many states across the country. Unfortunately, the drugs of choice might change or shift, but the potential for serious harm and death remains the same as decades past – and drug abuse and addiction are still killing and seriously injuring too many of us today. Let’s explore the more recent drug trends and which substances have become the most popular and most addictive available.

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What Are the Top 10 Most Addictive Drugs?

If you’re wondering about the most popular recreational drugs, it’s important to understand which addictive substances and most dangerous drug combinations put users at a high risk of substance use disorder.

A 2007 article published in The Lancet journal sought to develop an objective scale that could rank substances most likely to lead to potential misuse, giving ratings to each substance based on potential dependence and its potential harm to the user and several other metrics. According to that article, which was developed based on assessing information from addiction experts, the most addictive drugs are:

  1. Heroin
  2. Cocaine
  3. Nicotine
  4. Barbiturates
  5. Alcohol

Several other substances ranked high in the potential of dependence, including street methadone, benzodiazepines, buprenorphine, amphetamines, and ketamine. Other popular recreational drugs scored somewhere toward the middle in terms of risk of dependence, including marijuana, LSD, ecstasy, GHB, and solvents.

most popular recreational drugs

How Have Drug Use Trends and Patterns Changed Over the Last 10 Years?

The drugs people use recreationally have changed over time, as have the list of strongest to weakest opioids. The latest statistics point to drastically different substances of choice for the average American. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, historically high levels of past-year usage were reported in 2023 when it came to hallucinogens and cannabis. Consider, for example, that in 2023, 42% of adults 19 to 30 said they had used marijuana in the past year, 29% had used it within the past month, and 10% said they were daily users. The numbers were lower when looking specifically at adults 35 to 50, with 29% reporting using marijuana in the past year and 19% in the past month. Vaping cannabis also hit all-time highs in the annual Monitoring the Future study in 2023, as did nicotine vaping (19% of adults 19 to 30 had vaped nicotine in the past month).

The use of hallucinogens also continued its “steep incline” in 2023, with 9% of adults 19 to 30 and 4% of those 35 to 50 saying they had used hallucinogens like LSD, mushrooms, or PCP in the past year.

While some substances declined in usage in 2023, such as past-month cigarette smoking and past-year recreational use of prescription or opioid medications, other trends weren’t as positive. Alcohol use in the past year among 19- to 30-year-olds slightly increased over the past five years to 84% in 2023. Still, the rates of past-month drinking, daily drinking, and binge drinking all dropped to lows in 2023 in this age group, decreasing since a decade before. Even with some positive improvements, the number of U.S. overdose deaths broke 100,000 in recent years, primarily driven by fentanyl overdoses.

What Popular Recreational Drugs Have the Worst Long-Term Consequences?

It’s one thing to know the list of the most popular recreational drugs. It’s another thing entirely to understand which substances that people abuse can lead to the worst long-term consequences.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse sought to shed some light on the subject in a 2021 virtual question-and-answer session about the worst drugs. The expert being interviewed for that virtual event said it’s a “complicated question” because the answer will depend on what the questioner is wondering about. Take, for example, the fact that alcohol and nicotine are the most widely used drugs. Because of that, they are the reason for many deaths and health issues from drug use.

At the same time, overdose deaths in the United States are increasingly caused by the intentional or accidental use of fentanyl. This powerful opioid is cheap and easy to make illegally and highly potent. While fentanyl gets a lot of attention these days – for good reason – smoking still causes about half a million deaths each year, and in 2019, one person died every 52 minutes from a drunk driving crash.

The full answer is that just about any substance can lead to awful long-term consequences for heavy users, whether it’s illegal drugs like fentanyl or heroin, legal but dangerous substances like nicotine or alcohol, or abuse of prescription medications like painkillers and opioids.

What Is Currently the Most Popular Drug in the United States?

When thinking about the most popular recreational drugs, two substances immediately jump to the top of the list in terms of usage: Alcohol and nicotine. According to the Monitoring the Future study, 84% of Americans 19 to 30 reported using alcohol in the past year in 2023, 65% said they had drank in the past month, 4% said they drank daily, and 27% reported binge drinking.

Just over 40% of Americans 19 to 30 reported any kind of nicotine use in the past year in 2023, including 18.8% of the age group who said they had smoked a cigarette in the past 12 months. Daily smoking rates continued to decline in recent years, with just 3.6% of people in that age group reporting that they smoked daily in the 2023 study. However, the rate of nicotine vaping has dramatically increased in recent years – 25.3% of those 19 to 30 who reported they had vaped in the past year.

Use of marijuana or cannabis remained high in 2023, with 42.4% of Americans 19 to 30 reporting usage in the past year and 10.4% saying they used it daily. Vaping cannabis especially was becoming more popular among younger adults, according to the study.

Among drugs other than cannabis, the 2023 study reported all-time highs of usage of hallucinogens (8.9% of adults 19 to 30 had used a hallucinogen in the past year).

trends involving the most popular recreational drugs

Avoid the Risks of the Most Popular Recreational Drugs with Help from WhiteSands

Whatever the substance, the most popular recreational drugs each carry unique risks for addiction and long-term health consequences. That’s why it’s so vital for people who are struggling with drug or alcohol abuse to get help to overcome their struggles and avoid the risks that these substances bring about. Across Florida, WhiteSands Treatment operates a network of inpatient and outpatient drug and alcohol rehab facilities with a team of experts who know what it takes to address the mental and physical components of addiction and achieve long-lasting recovery. Get started on the path to a better life today by calling us at 877-855-3470.

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If you or a loved one needs help with abuse and/or treatment, please call the WhiteSands Treatment at (877) 855-3470. Our addiction specialists can assess your recovery needs and help you get the addiction treatment that provides the best chance for your long-term recovery.

About the Author

is a proud alumni member of WhiteSands Treatment. After living a life of chaos, destruction and constant let downs, Mark was able to make a complete turnaround that sparked a new way of life. He is serious about his recovery along with helping others. At WhiteSands Treatment, we offer support to you in your homes or when you are out living in your daily lives.