Drug addiction has reached crisis levels in Massachusetts, with teens among the hardest-hit groups. Roughly 1 in 11 adolescents aged 12-17—about 44,000 young people—reported using illicit drugs in the past month, a rate that is 25% higher than the national average. Marijuana remains the entry point for the vast majority (93%), but the state’s broader opioid epidemic—fueled by heroin and ultra-potent fentanyl—has pushed Massachusetts to twice the national rate of opioid-related deaths, a grim distinction that ripples through every age bracket . Early experimentation is common: the mean age of first trying alcohol, marijuana, or prescription pills is just 13–14 years old, and surveys show that more than 80% of Massachusetts teens see “no great risk” in monthly marijuana use, a perception experts link to rising psychosis and later addiction . Compounding the danger, 8.6% of adolescents drank alcohol in the past month—also 25% above the U.S. average—while 7% already meet the criteria for a drug-use disorder. With prescription-opioid misuse still steering many young users toward heroin and fentanyl, Massachusetts faces an urgent need for expanded youth-focused prevention, early-intervention, and treatment services before today’s teen experiments become tomorrow’s fatalities.
