Minnesota schools are preparing to roll out new cannabis education during the 2026-2027 school year, as the state now requires middle and high schools to teach students about cannabis, brain development and health risks.

“My hope is that we can create safe space in the schools, and that’s kind of my hope is with this curriculum, but to provide safe space in the schools for youth to start talking about substance use and their, and the impact it may be having on them or their loved ones or family, because right now substance use is a very, you know, hush-hush hidden thing,” said Michael Durchslag, P.E.A.S.E. Academy Executive Director.

P.E.A.S.E. Academy in Minneapolis is a substance abuse recovery high school through Transitional Charter Schools.

“We are the longest-running recovery high school in the country, so we serve youth who are in recovery from substance misuse,” Durchslag said. The school currently has about 27 students, including what he calls “super seniors” who stay beyond traditional graduation to keep their recovery and education on track.

The school serves students in grades eight through 12. Durchslag said cannabis education is already part of daily life. 

“We are preventing them from continued use,” he said. “But with a new curriculum that is coming out that is really geared toward how do we prevent students from picking up that first time or continuing to use.” He said for schools like his, the new requirement will layer on top of work they already do, while for many traditional schools, it will be a new prevention model.

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has told districts they must adopt science-based cannabis education and has provided examples of model programs that meet the legislative requirement:

• Cannabis: The Facts You Need to Know;

• Marijuana Prevention Plus Wellness; and

• Smart Talk: Cannabis Prevention and Awareness Curriculum.

The state said the curriculum should cover brain development, health risks and the realities of today’s cannabis market, including edibles, vapes and high-potency products.

“The list of model programs was created in last spring and schools have the option of implementing one of the identified programs or use their own program(s) that have been determined through their local curriculum adoption process. While it is not required for a school district or charter school to use one of the programs on the list, the options and rubric provided may be useful to school districts and charter schools in their own decision-making process,” said MDE in a statement.

Durchslag said the education is critical, because cannabis looks very different than it did 10 years ago.

“Cannabis comes in so many different forms and is a lot stronger today than it was 10 years ago,” he said. He wants students to understand the differences between THC products.

“It is really to let the youth know about edibles and THC pens and old school flower and what it does to your body and what it does to your brain and how it impacts development,” he said.

He has seen firsthand how easily youth can get into trouble with THC products. Durchslag recalled one student who found THC cookies at home.

“He was hungry in the middle of the night, and he ate way too many before he showed up,” Durchslag said. Staff ended up helping the family get him to the hospital because he was having serious adverse effects. He said high-concentration vape cartridges are also a concern.

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Earlier this week, Moorhead school officials said about 10 middle school students got sick after getting hold of THC products. Incidents like that are exactly what educators and researchers say they are trying to prevent as districts move to implement the new curriculum.

Durchslag believes now is one of the most important times to start educating students, as more dispensaries open and more products show up in homes.

“Now that it is legal, parents are less likely to hide it or more likely to choose to try it as an alternative to alcohol, and so youth have a lot more access to it than they ever have in the past,” he said.

For him, the curriculum is not just about information. It is about changing how schools respond to substance use.

“I always say use and dishonesty go hand in hand, and part of that is because we have always taken a very punitive approach towards substance use, and the schools still today take a very punitive approach,” he said. 

He said they are looking closely at a program developed by Stanford Health that they already use for nicotine education because it is evidence-based and includes youth input. 

St. Paul Public Schools confirmed it is also adopting the Stanford model.

Durchslag urges parents across Minnesota to be active in that process.

“I would encourage them to talk with the schools and ask which curriculum they are using,” he said. He would like to see schools host educational nights so parents can see what their children are learning and reinforce those lessons at home. “All this is to provide our youth the opportunity to prevent that first use or intervene,” he said.

Traci Toomey, a professor in the School of Public Health and director of the Cannabis Research Center at the University of Minnesota, said recent data from the Minnesota Student Survey is encouraging.

“The majority of youth are still not using cannabis. If we’re talking about, you know, young people 18 and younger,” she said. “That does not mean that we should be complacent and not think about how do we prevent young people from using?” Toomey said.

In 2023, Minnesota’s Cannabis law was passed. It established the framework for the state’s cannabis industry. In 2025, retail sales began for adult-use cannabis in Minnesota.

“Youth have not started to use cannabis more as a result of the legalization, and that is a good thing,” she said.

But she warned that access remains a concern, especially with hemp-derived THC products.

“We do know that some of the stores that sell the hemp-derived cannabis products are likely to sell to someone that is underage,” she said.

Toomey also talked about potency.

“In the past, a typical cannabis product might have a potency of 5% you know, and now the average potency of flour is more like 15% and we have some products that are concentrated and high potency, and we’re not sure what the risks are related to those products, so it’s really important that young people are educated about the risks of all products, and that all adults also are aware of the products and the potential risks of different types of products that they’re using,” she said.

She believes the state needs to do everything possible to prevent youth from getting access while also educating them about risks.

Toomey said the new school-based curriculum is an important piece of that work.

“We have learned from preventing young people from using tobacco and alcohol that a comprehensive approach is the best approach, and so one part of that is school-based education programs,” she said.

She wants to see curriculum that is culturally appropriate, evidence-based, and implemented in every school. “We want to make sure that young people are aware of the risks of using cannabis, and that every school has in place the best program possible,” she said.

She also wants students to understand how cannabis can affect their brains and mental health.

“It is important for young people to know that their brains are still developing, and when they use cannabis, it may affect brain development,” Toomey said. “It can affect memory. There is some concern it will affect mental health issues. It might affect progression to cannabis use disorder or other substance use disorders, so there are really risks that are involved with young people using cannabis, especially if they start using at a young age and then continue to use.”

Toomey and Durchslag both stressed that the curriculum alone will not be enough. Toomey said prevention also depends on parents talking with their children, stores following the law, and adults not providing cannabis to youth. She said school staff need training and clear protocols for how to respond when students are using.

Durchslag said his school and many others now keep naloxone on hand because of the risks from fentanyl and other opioids, and he sees cannabis education as part of a larger conversation about addiction and safety.

“My approach to addiction is that it does not matter what substance we are putting into ourselves, because it still has the same impact,” Durchslag said. He wants young people to be able to experience life without relying on substances to cope. “I want them to know how to mourn, how to celebrate, how to deal with boredom, how to make friends, deal with breakups, all that stuff that we go through as human beings,” he said.

As Minnesota schools prepare to implement the new cannabis curriculum this fall, both educators and researchers said the goal is not to scare students, but to give them honest information, space to talk, and support to make different choices before a first use turns into a pattern.

MDE provided the following information:

“Minnesota is not the first state to require education around cannabis. Other states do have requirements around K-12 cannabis education, including California, Colorado, and Texas.

“In Minnesota, local school districts develop their own cannabis-related curriculum. What is taught currently is determined at the local level until the updated K–12 Academic Standards in Health are implemented during the 2028-29 school year.”