Alabama Cannabis Advertising Laws

Alabama requires every name, logo, sign, advertisement and marketing campaign to be submitted to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission before use, with 14 days for the Commission to require changes or prohibit it. The rule prohibits advertising on billboards, radio and television broadcast, cable, on-demand, satellite, cinema, social media and other internet-based platforms, on handheld and portable signs, on vehicles and transit, and on publicly owned or operated property. No warning statements are required. A minor in Alabama is a person under 19.

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Advertising by licensed medical cannabis operators is permitted subject to pre-approval under 538-X-4-.17(3) and (4). Section 20-2A-61 authorises the Commission to limit the media through which advertising may occur, and (5) prohibits a list of named media and placements. Subsection (7) permits a website or web presence subject to stated conditions, and (8) permits limited signage at the licensed premises.

Alabama is medical only. There is no adult-use programme. The framework is the Darren Wesley "Ato" Hall Compassion Act, Title 20, Chapter 2A of the Code of Alabama, administered by the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission.

Advertising duties sit in the statute at Section 20-2A-61, which directs the Commission to adopt rules that may include limiting the media through which advertising may occur, and in Rule 538-X-4-.17, published August 31, 2022 and effective October 15, 2022. Every licence type cross-references that rule from its own chapter, so one advertising rule set applies to cultivators, processors, secure transporters, dispensaries, integrated facilities and state testing laboratories.

Alabama's first dispensary opened on June 4, 2026, following licensing litigation. The Commission has published no body of advertising decisions.

This page is part of our state-by-state cannabis advertising laws library, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Pre-approval

Under 538-X-4-.17(3), a licensee shall not use a name, logo, sign, advertisement or other marketing campaign unless it has first been submitted to the Commission. The submission must include the proposed item; a description of the format, medium and length of distribution; verification that an actual patient is not being used; verification that any foreign language translation is accurate; and a final copy including video where applicable.

Under (4), the Commission has 14 days to require a specific disclosure, require changes, or prohibit the advertisement. Staff decide first. An appeal goes to the full Commission at its next meeting occurring more than 15 days later, and that decision is final. If the Commission does not act within 14 days the material may be used; the rule does not treat that as a waiver of the Commission's authority to act later.

Business name and licence number

No licence number required. Under (6)(h)2, no name may be used other than the licensee's registered business name, an approved d/b/a, or the registered name of the product.

The required warning statements

None. Rule 538-X-4-.17 and Section 20-2A-61 require no warning language.

How the warnings have to appear

Not applicable, as none are required. Where the Commission requires a disclosure under (4)(b)1, it must be made in a clear and conspicuous manner. The rule prescribes no standing format.

When the warnings are not required

Not applicable. The exemption in the rule is at (9): the advertising provisions do not apply to noncommercial messages, meaning content primarily for charitable, educational or public service purposes that does not overtly seek profit or promote the licensee or its products.

Hotline number

No. Alabama requires no helpline, hotline or poison control number.

Prohibited content

Under 538-X-4-.17(6), advertising shall not:

• Include an image resembling a cartoon character, or of any individual, actual or fictional, more than 15 percent of whose audience is or should reasonably be anticipated to be composed of minors — (6)(a)
• Include apparel or merchandise related to the sale of medical cannabis — (6)(b)
• Suggest a relationship to edibles such as candy, cookies, brownies or cakes, or to beverages — (6)(c)
• Use designs or presentational effects commonly used to target minors — (6)(d)
• Suggest approval or endorsement by the Commission or the State of Alabama — (6)(e)
• Be inconsistent with the medicinal and approved use of medical cannabis — (6)(f)
• Encourage use for a condition other than a qualifying condition — (6)(g)

Under (6)(h), advertising shall not contain false or misleading statements; use a name other than those permitted; depict cannabis plants or any part of them, except inside a dispensing site or on a website maintained for the exclusive use of registered qualified patients and caregivers; use slang terms or reference unlicensed uses; disparage competitors; contain anything obscene, indecent or profane; or make health, therapeutic, safety or efficacy claims unless supported by substantial clinical data.

Under (3)(c), the pre-approval submission must include verification that an actual patient is not being used.

Prohibited placements

Under 538-X-4-.17(5), no advertisement shall be placed:

• Within 500 feet of the perimeter of a prohibited facility, or of any business or organization where, in the opinion of the Commission, the placement targets or is attractive to minors — (5)(a)
• On a billboard — (5)(b)
• On a radio or television broadcast, including any system transmitting visual images and sound reproduced on screens, and including broadcast, cable, on-demand, satellite, cinema, social media, or another internet-based platform — (5)(c)
• On any handheld or other portable sign — (5)(d)
• In public places on a brochure, handbill, pamphlet, leaflet or flyer handed, deposited, thrown or scattered to any person — (5)(e)
• Left on private property without the owner's consent — (5)(f)
• On or in a vehicle, public transit vehicle, or public transit shelter — (5)(g)
• On or in publicly owned or operated property — (5)(h)

Discounts, coupons, and price promotion

Rule 538-X-4-.17 contains no price advertising prohibition. Any offer is an advertisement and requires pre-approval under (3). Under (6)(f) it must not be inconsistent with the medicinal and approved use of medical cannabis. Under (6)(b) and (8)(c), apparel and merchandise related to the sale of medical cannabis are prohibited. Under (7)(e), a licensee's web presence may not transact business or facilitate a sales transaction.

What the Law Requires

Rule 538-X-4-.17(1) prohibits any advertisement likely to reach or appeal to minors. Section 20-2A-61(b) prohibits material that would be appealing to minors.

A minor in Alabama is a person under 19. Rule 538-X-1-.04(37) defines a minor as an individual who has not yet reached 19 years of age.

Registered qualified patients in Alabama may be minors, using medical cannabis with the assistance of a registered caregiver.

Audience Percentage Thresholds

Alabama sets no audience composition threshold for media. This is an absence in the rule rather than an omission from this page. Other states do set one: Connecticut requires reliable evidence that at least 90 percent of the audience is 21 or older, and California requires at least 71.6 percent. Rule 538-X-4-.17 sets no equivalent figure.

The 15 percent standard

Under 538-X-4-.17(6)(a), advertising shall not include an image resembling a cartoon character, or of any individual, actual or fictional, more than 15 percent of whose audience is or should reasonably be anticipated to be composed of minors. The percentage attaches to the audience of the depicted individual or character.

Where the burden sits

On the licensee. Subsection (3) places the submission obligation on the licensee. Subsection (6)(a) applies to what the licensee should reasonably anticipate about the depicted individual's audience. Subsection (7)(c) prohibits targeting a consumer group with a high likelihood of reaching or appealing to minors.

Event sponsorship

Rule 538-X-4-.17 sets no audience threshold specific to event sponsorship.

Age Gating and Consent

Websites

Under (7), a licensee's website shall require each user's affirmation that the user is not a minor before access is granted. A minor is a person under 19 under Rule 538-X-1-.04(37).

Targeting

Under (7)(c), a web presence may not target a consumer group with a high likelihood of reaching or appealing to minors.

Onward transmission

Under (7)(b), a web presence may not provide a medium for users to transmit content to minors.

Location-based devices

Rule 538-X-4-.17 contains no location-based device provision.

People Depicted in Ads

Under (6)(a), no image resembling a cartoon character, or of any individual, actual or fictional, more than 15 percent of whose audience is or should reasonably be anticipated to be composed of minors. Under (3)(c), the pre-approval submission must verify that an actual patient is not being used. Under (6)(d), no designs or presentational effects commonly used to target minors.

Rule 538-X-4-.17 sets no minimum age for persons appearing in advertising.

Restricted Locations and Buffer Distances

The 500 foot buffer

Under 538-X-4-.17(5)(a), no advertisement may be placed within 500 feet of the perimeter of a prohibited facility, or of any business or organization where, in the opinion of the Commission, the placement targets or is attractive to minors.

What the distance is measured from

The perimeter of the facility.

"Prohibited facility" is not defined

The term does not appear in the definitions at Rule 538-X-1-.04, nor in the statutory definitions at Section 20-2A-3.

The discretionary limb

The buffer extends to any business or organization where, in the opinion of the Commission, the placement targets or is attractive to minors. The rule identifies no list of such businesses.

Publicly Owned Property, Vehicles, and Transit

Under (5)(h), no advertisement on or in publicly owned or operated property. Under (5)(g), no advertisement on or in a vehicle, public transit vehicle, or public transit shelter. Subsection (5)(g) is not limited to public vehicles. Section 20-2A-61(a)(1) separately prohibits brand names and cannabis graphics on the exterior of any vehicle the licensee operates.

Can You Run a Digital Out of Home Screen in Alabama?

Subsection (5)(b) prohibits billboards. Subsection (5)(d) prohibits handheld and portable signs. Subsections (5)(g) and (5)(h) prohibit vehicles, transit and publicly owned or operated property. Subsection (8)(b) prohibits illuminating a sign advertising a medical cannabis product or strain at any time, without limitation by location.

The 1,000 Foot Buffer Is a Licensing Rule, Not an Advertising Rule

Under Rule 538-X-8-.04, a dispensing site must be located at least 1,000 feet from any school, day care or child care facility. This provision governs where a dispensing site may be located.

The advertising buffer is the 500 foot distance at 538-X-4-.17(5)(a), measured from the perimeter of a prohibited facility or of a business the Commission considers attractive to minors. The two provisions use different distances, different facility lists, and govern different subjects.

Compliant Use of Geotargeting

• Build exclusions at 500 feet from facility perimeter under (5)(a). The rule does not define "prohibited facility."
• Include the intended placement in the pre-approval submission under (3), since the discretionary limb of (5)(a) depends on the opinion of the Commission.
• Exclude publicly owned and operated property under (5)(h), and all vehicles, transit vehicles and transit shelters under (5)(g).
• Set every age threshold to 19, under Rule 538-X-1-.04(37).
• Use the 500 foot advertising figure at (5)(a) rather than the 1,000 foot licensing figure at Rule 538-X-8-.04.
• Obtain Commission confirmation on whether display and paid search fall within "another internet-based platform" at (5)(c) before committing spend.

One advertising rule set. Alabama is medical only; there is no adult-use programme. Rule 538-X-4-.17 applies to cultivators, processors, secure transporters, dispensaries, integrated facilities and state testing laboratories, each through a cross reference in its own chapter.

Access is limited to registered qualified patients with a qualifying medical condition certified by a registered physician. Simple possession outside the programme remains a criminal offence and has not been decriminalised.

Who regulates hemp here

The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. House Bill 445 (HB 445), enacted in the 2025 Regular Session, moved consumable hemp to the ABC Board and created a licensing, testing, labelling, taxation and enforcement system. It repealed Section 13A-12-214.4 on psychoactive cannabinoids. The smokable hemp prohibition took effect July 1, 2025 and the consumable hemp framework on January 1, 2026.

Non-intoxicating hemp and CBD

Permitted through ABC-licensed retailers, in person only. Potency is capped at 10 milligrams of total THC per serving and 40 milligrams per package. Total THC is calculated post-decarboxylation as delta-9 plus 0.877 times THCA. Sales are restricted to persons 21 years of age or older. Packaging must be child-resistant and carry a scannable link to the certificate of analysis.

Intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids

Smokable and combustible hemp is prohibited, including flower, pre-rolls and hemp cigarettes. Manufacture, distribution, sale or possession of prohibited smokable hemp is a Class C felony carrying one to ten years and fines up to $15,000. The statute does not use "inhalable" as a category and does not expressly name vapes, which fall within the consumable hemp definition. The federal definition of hemp narrows in November 2026.

What it means for advertising

Two frameworks apply, with different regulators and different age thresholds: 19 for the definition of minor under the medical cannabis advertising rule, and 21 for hemp retail sales. Neither framework permits e-commerce: Rule 538-X-4-.17(7)(e) prohibits a licensee's web presence from facilitating a sales transaction, and consumable hemp sales are in person only. Confirm the current ABC Board rule text before a hemp campaign, as the rules proceeded through emergency and permanent rulemaking across 2025 and 2026.

Every statement on this page traces to one of the following:

• Rule 538-X-4-.17, Marketing and Advertising, Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission Administrative Code Chapter 538-X-4, published August 31, 2022, effective October 15, 2022
• Rule 538-X-4-.17 via the Alabama Legislature administrative code
• Section 20-2A-61, Advertisement and Display Restrictions, Code of Alabama
• Rule 538-X-1-.04, Definitions, including the definition of minor at (37)
• Chapter 538-X-8, Regulation of Dispensaries, including Rule 538-X-8-.04
• AMCC guidance on the status of medical cannabis dispensaries in Alabama
• House Bill 445, 2025 Regular Session, Alabama Legislature, and the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board rules implementing it