Welcome to our Q&A with partner, Jennifer Gumer!
As a partner at CGL and our Regulatory and Compliance Practice Lead, Jennifer provides strategic counseling, practical advice, and expert advocacy to clients with production needs. As an Adjunct Professor of Law and Bioethics, she is uniquely qualified to handle all interactions with federal, state, and local regulators who oversee product development, manufacturing, and marketing activities, including the FDA and Local Hemp Regulators.
Q: Advertising of cannabis products on highway billboards in California was recently banned. So, what options do cannabis companies have to advertise their products?
The California Bureau of Cannabis Control updated its guidelines in January to state that billboard and similar advertising of cannabis products is now prohibited on any interstate or state highways that cross the California border. This ban followed a court judgement that invalidated the previous guidelines which permitted advertising except within a 15-mile radius of the state border.
Advertising on local highways that do not cross a state border is often curtailed by local laws that prohibit outdoor advertising of cannabis.
Platform guidelines mean cannabis cannot be advertised on most social platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Companies cannot offer free products as part of a promotion either.
In practice, this leaves cannabis companies with radio, magazine, and influencer advertising, as well as promotion via delivery providers.
For more information about cannabis advertising, see our contribution to MJ Biz Daily.
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