USA: Cannabis organization proposes national advertising regulations

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Marketing a cannabis product is tricky — and getting even trickier. As states legalize marijuana, they are also adopting their own regulations that can vary widely.

With recreational marijuana legal in nine states and medical marijuana in 29, the National Association of Cannabis Businesses has proposed advertising rules to guide cannabis marketing across the country.

The medical marijuana guidelines include not making unsubstantiated health claims and specifically saying a product can only be used by authorized patients. 
The rules take cues from other highly regulated industries like alcohol and tobacco, including not marketing to people under age 21 or depicting excessive consumption of cannabis in advertising.

“As cannabis's legitimacy increases, it becomes increasingly more important for the industry to be appropriate in the types of claims it's making,” said Doug Fischer, chief legal officer and head of national standards development at NACB. “The increasing government interest certainly makes it more important to be very conscious of how the industry presents itself.”

NACB's rules on marketing to underage audiences are also similar to those for alcohol and tobacco. 
Cannabis advertising cannot use marketing tactics like cartoons, toys, celebrities, or mascots that are commonly employed to pitch to underage audiences.

Digital, TV, radio, and print ads should only be placed where no more than 15% of the audience is under 21. Cannabis websites also need an age-screening component where users must input their date of birth to prove they're older than 21 to view the website.(Más)

PUBLIC COMMENTS SUMMARY

NACB Packaging and Labeling National Standards (Draft) Last Updated: March 23, 2018

On January 23, 2018, the National Association of Cannabis Businesses published and requested comments on a draft of its Packaging and Labeling National Standards. 
On February 23, the public comment period closed.

During the comment period, the NACB received 114 comments from 25 commenters. A diverse group of businesses, individuals, and organizations provided input on the NACB’s Packaging and Labeling National Standards, including packaging experts, chemists from testing laboratories, state regulators, the National Cannabis Industry Association (the cannabis industry’s largest trade association) and many other experienced professionals from inside and outside the cannabis industry. The NACB is grateful for these comments, which will enable the NACB to adopt a standard that advances its mission of advancing the cannabis industry by protecting public health and safety.

Transparency is a cornerstone of the NACB’s standards creation process. Accordingly, the NACB is publishing this summary of comments received on its draft Packaging and Labeling National Standards, which is organized subject matter. The NACB’s members will consider these comments and amend the Packaging and Labeling National Standards before voting on their adoption.
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