Teen cannabis use fell, but inequities still shape who uses

Cannabis use has decreased among adolescents over the past decade, in spite of more permissive policies. Prior studies are limited in their ability to examine numerous social identities over a meaningful period of time. The present study therefore uses a very large school-based survey to examine how rates of cannabis use and disparities in use have changed from 2013 to 2025. 9th and 11th grade students provided survey data on the 2013, 2016, 2019, 2022, or 2025 Minnesota Student Survey (Ns = 45,180 to 75,551 by wave). The prevalence of any past 30-day cannabis use was compared across survey year, using harmonized measures of assigned sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, racial and ethnic identity, and poverty experience. Logistic regression (adjusted for grade) was used to test if disparities in past-30 day cannabis use had widened, stayed the same, or narrowed over time. The prevalence of any past 30-day cannabis use declined from 2013 to 2025 for the full sample, from 12.7% to 5.0%, and this downward trend was evident for all subgroups examined. In almost all cases, marginalized youth had significantly elevated odds of reporting past 30-day cannabis use compared to their privileged group counterparts. In many groups, observed disparities decreased significantly from 2013 to 2025, with some nuance by group and intermediate years. Health equity should be the focus of ongoing cannabis use prevention efforts, particularly reducing stigma, which previous research has shown to be a substantial contributor to cannabis use disparities.