(WWJ) A new University of Michigan study shows more young adults are vaping marijuana now than any time in the past four decades.

The annual Monitoring The Future (MTF) Panel Study shows the percentage of young adults (19 to 22 years old) who vaped marijuana at least once in a month’s time has jumped from 5% in 2017 to 14% in 2019 among full-time college students.

It has more than doubled from 8% in 2017 to 17% in 2019 among young adults not in college, according to the study.

The study revealed marijuana use among both groups is currently at 43%, the highest it has been since the early eighties.

Principal investigator of the study, John Schulenberg, said this is an extremely “worrisome” trend, considering the health risks that come with vaping and smoking, such as severe complications from COVID-19 and the addictive properties of the substances.

"Daily marijuana use is a clear health risk," Schulenberg said in the release. "The brain is still growing in the early 20s, and as the surgeon general recently reported, the scientific evidence indicates that heavy marijuana use can be detrimental to cognitive functioning and mental health.”

Schulenberg said research shows there is a high correlation between marijuana usage and dropping out of college, or poor academic performance.

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