Fewer Minnesota high school students are using cannabis than a decade ago, even after the state legalized adult use in 2023. A University of Minnesota study found that past-month use among ninth and 11th graders fell from 12.7% in 2013 to 5% in 2025, KTTC reported.
The decline did not reach every student equally. American Indian and Alaska Native students, LGBTQ+ students, and students experiencing poverty were about three times as likely to report recent use as their comparison groups, MPR News reported.
The timing may tempt some readers to credit or blame legalization, but the data cannot support either conclusion. The study did not examine what drove the change. For parents, the more useful message is that most teens are not using cannabis, and that some kids face pressures that make them more likely to start.
A Decade of Survey Data
The findings come from the Minnesota Student Survey, which is given every three years. The study, published in Social Science & Medicine, compared cannabis use across survey years and across social identities, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race and ethnicity, and poverty, according to a University of Minnesota research brief.
Lead author Marla Eisenberg told MPR she had assumed legalization might bring an uptick, but the research has not supported that. She suggested that teens now spend more social time on screens and in structured, supervised activities, and less time with peers on their own, settings where substance use can happen. That is a hypothesis, not a finding of the study.
The Minnesota decline mirrors a national pattern. CDC data released this week show past-month cannabis use among U.S. high schoolers at the lowest level since the agency began asking in 1991, according to MPR.
Groups Left Behind by the Decline
Some racial and ethnic gaps narrowed. In 2013, Black students were 51% more likely to use cannabis than white students; by 2025, they were 10% less likely, KIMT reported. But researchers did not see the same narrowing for gaps tied to sexual orientation, gender identity, or poverty.
Bullying may help explain part of that. When researchers accounted for students' experiences of being bullied, the differences in cannabis use between groups became substantially smaller. That is an association, not proof that bullying causes cannabis use, but it points to one possible reason some teens use substances to cope.
"Something's working in terms of reducing cannabis use overall and reducing some disparities," Eisenberg told MPR. She said the challenge now is applying those lessons where disparities persist.
Health Risks Parents Should Know
Adolescent cannabis use has been associated with emotional distress, poorer school outcomes, and effects on brain development and functioning that can persist into adulthood, the university's research brief notes. Early and frequent use is also linked to a higher risk of later substance use problems.
Clinicians are especially watchful for psychosis. Lionel Wininger, chief clinical psychologist at the University of Minnesota, told MPR that about a third of patients at one first-episode psychosis clinic reported cannabis use when they entered treatment. He said researchers are still studying whether cannabis triggers an underlying vulnerability, and he is concerned about increasingly potent products.
Warning signs that a teen may need help include declining grades, withdrawal from friends or activities, changes in sleep or appetite, paranoia, or hearing or seeing things others do not. Hallucinations, severe confusion, or thoughts of self-harm need urgent medical care.
Minnesota's Be Cannabis Aware campaign, aimed at people 25 and younger and the adults in their lives, shares information on cannabis risks and on alternatives for young people who may use it to cope with anxiety or depression. Parents can also store any adult cannabis products locked and out of reach, since edibles can look like ordinary candy.
For teens already using cannabis, Wininger favors a harm-reduction approach: understanding why a young person uses, for example, to manage depression, and treating that underlying problem rather than relying on an abstinence-only message. School counselors, pediatricians, and county behavioral health programs can help families find care.
Minnesota's next student survey is expected in 2028. The overall trend is encouraging, and the data do not show legalization increasing teen use. The families with the most reason to pay attention are those whose children face bullying, poverty, or discrimination, where use remains far more common. MPR has also covered how the state's legal cannabis market is changing after its first year.
Key Questions Answered
How much has teen cannabis use fallen in Minnesota? Past-month use among ninth and 11th graders dropped from 12.7% in 2013 to 5% in 2025, according to a University of Minnesota study.
Did legalization cause the decline? The data cannot show that. The study did not examine causes, and use also declined nationally.
Which students are most at risk? American Indian and Alaska Native students, LGBTQ+ students, and students experiencing poverty reported about three times the rate of recent use.
Why might some groups use more? Researchers found that the gaps shrank substantially when they accounted for bullying, suggesting some teens may use cannabis to cope.
What health risks does teen use carry? It is associated with emotional distress, poorer school outcomes, effects on brain development, psychosis risk, and later substance use problems, especially with early use.
How can parents start the conversation? Start early, stay factual, and use resources from Minnesota's Be Cannabis Aware campaign. Store adult products locked away.
Published by Medicaldaily.com
