Minnesota Study Finds Teen Marijuana Use Drops to Lowest Level Since Legalization

A new Minnesota Department of Health survey has revealed a significant decline in marijuana use among the state’s youth, countering longstanding concerns that legalization would drive higher consumption rates among teens. The Minnesota Student Survey, conducted every three years among students in grades 5, 8, 9, and 11, showed that 96% of students reported not using cannabis in the past month. This marks the lowest level of youth marijuana use in the past decade, according to state officials

The latest survey is particularly notable as it is the first conducted since Minnesota legalized recreational marijuana for adults over 21 in 2023. State officials highlighted that the data indicated “healthier trends related to student use and perceptions of harms” surrounding cannabis. From 2013 to 2025, there was a 57.7% drop in self-reported past-year cannabis use among 8th, 9th, and 11th graders combined. The trend of declining use has been steady, despite greater access for adults in recent years

Interestingly, the survey also found that students tend to overestimate how many of their peers use cannabis. While 54% of 8th, 9th, and 11th graders believed that more than half of their classmates used marijuana, 92% actually reported never having used it. The Department of Health further noted that more students now see weekly marijuana use as moderately to greatly harmful, reversing previous trends observed between 2013 and 2022

Despite the overall positive findings, officials caution that some young people are still encountering cannabis at early ages. "Despite positive trends, the student survey—indicates that some of our children are encountering cannabis at young ages," said Brooke Cunningham, Minnesota’s commissioner of health. "We need talk to our children about cannabis before they encounter it because we know the potential harms that early use can bring to their developing brains, mental health and futures."

Minnesota’s experience is consistent with national and international studies, which generally show that youth cannabis use declines or remains stable following legalization. Reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Journal of the American Medical Association have found no evidence that legalizing cannabis for adults has increased youth consumption. In fact, a Marijuana Policy Project analysis found youth marijuana use declined in 19 out of 21 states that legalized adult use, with average teen consumption down 35% in early adopter states

From the OG Lab newsroom perspective, these findings challenge the narrative that legalization leads to increased youth marijuana use and support the argument for regulated, age-restricted markets over prohibition. As more states and countries consider cannabis reform, Minnesota’s data will likely play a key role in shaping future policy debates. This trend is worth watching as the industry seeks to balance public health concerns with the realities of a legal cannabis market