Cannabis Marketing and the Law

The state of Nevada has put together a set of laws that restrict how you can market your cannabis dispensary.  State laws can change quickly and often so it is important to keep up to date on cannabis marketing and the law.  If you think that you can just ignore these laws or maybe pay a small fine for violating them, you couldn’t be more wrong.  It is important that you adhere to all Cannabis Marketing laws that are governed by the Nevada State Liquor and Cannabis Board or you can end up facing heavy fines and even closure of your dispensary.

Here are some things you need to adhere to:

  • Store hours need to adhere to local regulations and can only operate during specific hours, these hours must also be clearly posted. For  example in Las Vegas dispensaries can operate between 6am – 10pm, whereas in Reno dispensaries can stay open until midnight.
  • Most can be dually licensed they can sell both recreational and medical marijuana
  • There are a limited number of recreational dispensary licenses, there are only 80 licenses in Clark County, 20 in Washoe County, 4 to Carson County and each of the other counties are only allowed 2. This means that competition will be fierce.  It also means don’t even think about expanding your business without a license.

There are also general advertising laws that you are going to have to adhere to as well:

  • Don’t encourage over consumption or driving under the influence of cannabis.
  • No misleading advertising.
  • You cannot portray cannabis as a cure for a medical condition, you are not a doctor so don’t pretend to be one on the internet.
  • Be mindful of the age of consumption, no one under the age of 21 so you can use toys or cartoons to do your marketing.

Your advertising locations will be restricted too and this is something else that you need to adhere to:

  • You will not be able to post signs or advertise anywhere within a 1,000 feet of children, that will include day care centers, schools, or recreation centers.
  • You are not going to advertise on the side of a bus or any other public service vehicle.
  • You cannot advertise on public property

In the advertising materials you need to also include warnings, health risks that are associated with cannabis consumption, that it is intoxicating and once again you need to be mindful of the age of your targeted audience.

The complicated legislation surrounding cannabis marketing is why you need to have a team on your side that understand where and how you can advertise your dispensary.