In the past decade, as the United States has seen a wave of states opt to legalize recreational cannabis use for adults, the public’s perception of cannabis has evolved dramatically. In 2012, for example, when the first states voted to legalize cannabis, Gallup found that 50% of Americans supported legalization. By 2023, that number rose to 70%.

A new report from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (SPH) contextualizes this data by analyzing how people in the state of Minnesota felt about cannabis before it was legalized in May of 2023. Using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the new report from SPH’s Cannabis Research Center (CRC) and State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) presents data for both Minnesota and the U.S. as a whole. The report is aimed at offering data to help policymakers and the people of Minnesota anticipate how cannabis use might change under legalization, as well as how changes might affect public health.

 Key findings of the report include:

• Most Minnesotans found cannabis easy to obtain before legalization.
  • 59.7% of Minnesotans age 12 and older reported that cannabis was “very or fairly easy” to obtain, a rate similar to the overall U.S. rate of 62.4% reporting cannabis to be very or fairly easy to obtain.

• Before legalization, half of Minnesotans believed there was ‘slight or no risk’ to smoking cannabis weekly.
  • Roughly half (49.2%) of Minnesotans age 12 and older said they believed there was “slight or no risk” associated with smoking cannabis once or twice a week, while 50.8% believed it entailed “moderate or great risk.” Those rates were not significantly different from the U.S. rates.

• More than 80% of Minnesota youth disapproved of cannabis use by peers before legalization.
  • Among Minnesota youth (age 12-20), 82% said they “somewhat or strongly disapprove” of cannabis use by people their age, which was not significantly different from the U.S. rate.

• Prior to legalization, only one-third of Minnesota adults disapproved of cannabis use by adults
  • Among Minnesota adults (age 21 and older), only 34.5% said they “somewhat or strongly disapprove” of cannabis use by adults. That was not significantly different from the U.S. rate.

“The legalization of non-medical cannabis for use by adults marks a landmark policy change in Minnesota, and it will likely take researchers years to fully understand the public health implications of legalization,” says Colin Planalp, lead author of the study and a researcher at CRC and SHADAC. “Much of the concern regarding potential public health consequences of cannabis legalization hinges on the assumption that consumption will rise with legalization. Some research from other states found evidence of increased cannabis use after legalization. But it’s unclear if Minnesota, with its distinct culture, demographics and regulatory framework, will see similar results. Researchers will continue to track these patterns in Minnesota to assess the impacts of cannabis legalization on our state’s population and our public health.”

Robert Hest and Andrea Stewart from the SPH State Health Access Data Assistance Center co-authored the report.

About the Cannabis Research Center
In 2023, the Minnesota State Legislature passed H.F. 100, legalizing cannabis in Minnesota for non-medical use for individuals age 21 and older. This followed legislation establishing the state’s medical cannabis program a decade earlier. As part of the 2023 law, the legislature designated funding to the University of Minnesota School of Public Health to establish a Cannabis Research Center (CRC).