Ohio's proposed Marijuana advertising rules a lot more restrictive than other states
Ohio Lawmakers Finalize Restrictive Advertising Rules for Recreational Marijuana Sales.
The marketing and advertising of recreational marijuana was a big topic of discussion among Ohio lawmakers shortly after voters passed the initiative legalizing those sales in November 2023.
Since legal sales began, Ohio state leaders have been finalizing the rules for advertising recreational cannabis. And they're a lot more restrictive than other states.
For example, driving east on Interstate 74 in Indiana, drivers can see a billboard advertising a recreational adult-use cannabis dispensary just across the state line in Ohio.
But people won't see any of those same billboards inside Ohio, where recreational weed sales began in August.
That's because the state agency overseeing cannabis sales banned them as well as many other kinds of advertising.
In fact, several dispensaries have already received fines in the five figures for having billboards or other advertising, even for having an ice cream truck outside.
It's a far cry from Michigan, where billboards are plentiful both inside cities like Kalamazoo as well as along the interstate.
Most are informational, with prices and locations listed. But some can get kind of clever.
They're still there, despite an effort by some Michigan lawmakers to ban them in 2022.
Ohio's Division of Cannabis Control will allow some digital advertising, but not on national social media sites like X, Facebook or Instagram.
Any ads here will not allow any slang, such as getting high, rolling a joint, or other terminology. And they won't be allowed on public buses or in sports stadiums.
One thing you won't see or hear anywhere anytime soon: Ads on television or radio. That's because those outlets are governed by the Federal Communications Commission.
And cannabis is still illegal federally, pending a possible reclassification. So, the FCC banned weed ads for the time being.
Several dispensary owners Local 12 reached Monday declined to comment, citing those fines as well as the fact that the rules were not fully official yet.
Ohio cannabis regulators also declined on-camera interviews.
There are also billboards in Indiana heading into Michigan for recreational dispensaries there but people won't find billboards like that on highways in Kentucky because that state has banned marijuana ads as it gears up its own medical cannabis program.
As for those Ohio rules, they're expected to be made official and final later in September.
Dispensaries have sold more than $54 million of recreational cannabis products in the first month of legal sales.
More than $1.9 billion of medical marijuana has been sold since that program began in April 2019.
