Connecticut Cannabis Advertising Laws

Connecticut requires reliable evidence that at least 90 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be 21 or older. It prohibits any image or visual representation of the cannabis plant or any part of it, prohibits discount and promotional messaging outside three named surfaces, prohibits billboard advertising between six in the morning and eleven at night, and requires every advertisement making a statement about use and effect to present a fair balance of available information.

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Legal for licensed cannabis establishments. Section 21a-421bb contains no pre-approval requirement for advertisements. The constraints are the 90 per cent audience threshold at (b)(3), the fifteen prohibitions at (b), the warning and format requirements at (c), the content rules and fair balance requirement at §21a-421j-26, the buffers at (b)(2) and (b)(7), and the advertising log at §21a-421j-26(f).

Advertising is governed by two instruments. The statute is Conn. Gen. Stat. §21a-421bb, within Chapter 420h, the Responsible and Equitable Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis Act. The Department of Consumer Protection's Policies and Procedures at §21a-421j-26 add a second set of content rules with no statutory equivalent. Both are administered by the Department of Consumer Protection.

Medical and adult-use cannabis share one advertising statute, with two provisions treating medical differently.

Three categories of person may advertise cannabis in Connecticut: a cannabis establishment licensee; a person providing professional services related to the purchase, sale or use of cannabis; and, since Public Act 25-166, a person displaying materials solely visible within the interior of a cannabis establishment.

A violation of subsections (a) through (c) of §21a-421bb is deemed an unfair or deceptive trade practice under §42-110b(a), the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.

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

Business name and licence number

Not required. Section 21a-421bb contains no requirement to display a licence number in advertising.

The required warning statement

One. It must appear verbatim:

"Do not use cannabis if you are under twenty-one years of age. Keep cannabis out of the reach of children."

How the warning has to appear

Under §21a-421bb(c), in a print or visual medium the warning shall be conspicuous, easily legible and shall take up not less than ten per cent of the advertisement space. In an audio medium it shall be at the same speed as the rest of the advertisement and be easily intelligible.

When the warning is not required

Under subsection (d), outdoor signage including a monument sign, pylon sign or wayfinding sign is not required to contain the warning, is deemed to satisfy the 90 per cent audience requirement, and is exempt from the 500 foot distance requirement, if it:

• Contains only the name and logo of the establishment
• Includes no image or visual representation of the cannabis plant or any part of it
• Is comprised of not more than three colours
• Is located on the establishment's premises, or on commercial property occupied by multiple tenants including the establishment

All four conditions must be met.

Hotline number

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

Prohibited content, statute

Under §21a-421bb(b), a cannabis establishment shall not engage in advertising that:

• Targets or is designed to appeal to individuals under 21, including through spokespersons or celebrities who appeal to those under the legal purchase age, depictions of a person under 25 years of age consuming cannabis, objects such as toys, characters or cartoon characters suggesting the presence of a person under 21, or any other depiction designed to appeal to a person under 21 — (b)(1)(A)
• Contains any image or any other visual representation of the cannabis plant or any part of it, including the leaf — (b)(1)(B)
• Makes curative or therapeutic claims, medical claims, or promotes cannabis for a wellness purpose, unless substantiated under Chapter 420f regulations or verbally conveyed by a licensed pharmacist or other licensed medical practitioner in the course of business in, or while representing, a hybrid retailer or dispensary facility — (b)(5)
• Uses the word "dispensary," except by dispensary facilities and hybrid retailers — (b)(9)
• Uses "drug store," "pharmacy," "apothecary," "drug," "drugs" or "medicine shop" — (b)(10)
• Displays cannabis, cannabis products, or plant imagery so as to be clearly visible from the exterior of the facility — (b)(12)
• Uses radio or loudspeaker in a vehicle or in or outside a facility for advertising purposes — (b)(13)

Prohibited content, Policies and Procedures

Under §21a-421j-26(c), an advertisement shall not contain, and a cannabis establishment shall not collaborate directly or indirectly in any advertising that contains:

• Any statement that is false, misleading, deceptive, or creates such an impression directly, by omission, or through ambiguity, or otherwise violates the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act
• Any statement that falsely disparages a competitor's product or business
• Any statement, design, representation, picture or illustration that is obscene or indecent
• Any statement relating to the safety, efficacy, curative or therapeutic effects of cannabis unless supported by substantial evidence or substantial clinical data
• Any portrayal of anyone under 21, anyone reasonably expected to be under 21, objects suggestive of the presence of anyone under 21, or a figure, symbol or language customarily associated with anyone under 21
• Any statement indicating or implying approval or endorsement by the commissioner, the department, the state of Connecticut, the federal government, or anyone associated with either

Section 21a-421j-26(c) provides that false or misleading information in any part of an advertisement shall not be negated or ameliorated by the inclusion of a true statement in another distinct part. The prohibition on collaboration applies to advertising the establishment collaborates in directly or indirectly.

The fair balance requirement

Under §21a-421j-26(d), all advertisements making a statement relating to use and effect shall present a true statement of such information, and advertisements broadcast through media shall include that information in audio and visually wherever possible. An advertisement does not satisfy the true statement requirement if it fails to present a fair balance of available information relating to use and effect, taking into account format, layout, design, and other techniques used to achieve emphasis.

Under §21a-421j-26(e), no advertisement may be disseminated if the submitter has received information that the use of the cannabis at issue may cause fatalities or serious damage.

The advertising log

Under §21a-421j-26(f), a cannabis establishment shall maintain a log of all advertisements with which it has collaborated, directly or indirectly, including a copy of the advertisement, the medium, the location, and the date range of dissemination.

Pre-approval

Not required for advertisements. The Department states that licensees need not submit advertisements for preapproval but must comply with Chapter 420h and the Department's policies and procedures.

Two things do require approval. Brand names, under §21a-421bb(e), which the Department will not register if identical or confusingly similar to an existing non-cannabis product, to an unlawful product, or to a previously approved cannabis brand name, or if obscene, indecent, or customarily associated with persons under 21. And informational material: hybrid retailers and retailers shall provide information to patients, caregivers and consumers about possession and use, both at the establishment through prominent visual display and on any website, and shall submit all such informational material to the commissioner for approval before providing it.

Discounts, coupons, and price promotion

Under §21a-421bb(b)(15), added by Public Act 24-76 effective July 1, 2024, a cannabis establishment shall not engage in advertising or marketing that includes a discounted price or other promotional offering as an inducement to purchase cannabis that is not a medical marijuana product. Three exceptions permit the offer:

• Within a dispensary facility, retailer or hybrid retailer
• Through a delivery service
• On a website maintained by or for one of those where cannabis may lawfully be ordered — (b)(15)(C)

Medical marijuana products are outside the prohibition.

What the Law Requires

Three ages appear in the rules. Twenty-one is the purchase age and the general advertising age. Under §21a-421bb(b)(1)(A), no depictions of a person under 25 years of age consuming cannabis. Under §21a-421j-26(c), no portrayal of anyone under 21 or anyone reasonably expected to be under 21.

Audience Percentage Thresholds

90 per cent, on reliable evidence

Under §21a-421bb(b)(3), a cannabis establishment shall not engage in advertising by means of any television, radio, internet, mobile application, social media or other electronic communication, billboard or other outdoor signage, or print publication unless it has reliable evidence that at least ninety per cent of the audience for the advertisement is reasonably expected to be twenty-one years of age or older.

The media the threshold reaches

Television, radio, internet, mobile application, social media or other electronic communication, billboard or other outdoor signage, and print publication. Direct mail is not named.

Ten per cent, twice, for events

Under (b)(6), a cannabis establishment may sponsor a charitable, sports, musical, artistic, cultural, social or other similar event, and may advertise at or in connection with it, only where it has reliable evidence that not more than ten per cent of the in-person audience is reasonably expected to be under the legal purchase age, and not more than ten per cent of the audience that will watch, listen or participate is expected to be under it. Both limbs apply.

Where the burden sits

On the establishment. Subsections (b)(3) and (b)(6) each require reliable evidence held by the establishment. Under §21a-421j-26(f), the advertising log must record a copy of the advertisement, the medium, the location and the date range of dissemination.

Age Gating and Consent

Websites

Under (b)(14), no operating any internet web site advertising or depicting cannabis, cannabis products or cannabis paraphernalia unless the site verifies that entrants or users are twenty-one years of age or older. Section 21a-421bb prescribes no mechanism.

Location-based devices

Under (b)(4), advertising or marketing directed toward location-based devices, including cellular phones, is prohibited unless the marketing is a mobile device application installed on the device by the owner of the device who is twenty-one years of age or older, which includes a permanent and easy opt-out feature and warnings that the use of cannabis is restricted to persons twenty-one years of age or older.

Subsection (b)(4) does not define "directed toward" and does not address marketing sent to a mobile number outside an installed application.

Established customers

Section 21a-421bb contains no exception removing communications to existing customers or opted-in recipients from the definition of advertising.

People Depicted in Ads

Four provisions bear on casting:

• No spokespersons or celebrities who appeal to individuals under the legal purchase age — (b)(1)(A)
• No depictions of a person under 25 years of age consuming cannabis — (b)(1)(A)
• No objects such as toys, characters or cartoon characters suggesting the presence of a person under 21 — (b)(1)(A)
• No portrayal of anyone under 21, anyone reasonably expected to be under 21, objects suggestive of their presence, or a figure, symbol or language customarily associated with anyone under 21 — §21a-421j-26(c)

Separately, under (b)(1)(B), no image or visual representation of the cannabis plant or any part of it, including the leaf.

Restricted Locations and Buffer Distances

Billboards: 1,500 feet

Under §21a-421bb(b)(2), no advertising by means of any form of billboard within one thousand five hundred feet of an elementary or secondary school ground or a house of worship, recreation center or facility, child care center, playground, public park or library.

Other physical advertising: 500 feet

Under (b)(7), no advertising of cannabis, cannabis products or cannabis paraphernalia in any physical form visible to the public within five hundred feet of an elementary or secondary school ground or a recreation center or facility, child care center, playground, public park or library. Houses of worship are not named in (b)(7).

Time of day

Under (b)(2), no advertising by means of a billboard between six o'clock a.m. and eleven o'clock p.m.

Transit, Vehicles, and Public Venues

Under (b)(11), no advertising on or in public or private vehicles or at bus stops, taxi stands, transportation waiting areas, train stations, airports or other similar transportation venues, including vinyl-wrapped vehicles or signs or logos on transportation vehicles not owned by a cannabis establishment. The provision names private vehicles as well as public ones.

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

Four provisions apply. Under (b)(2), billboard advertising is prohibited between six o'clock a.m. and eleven o'clock p.m. and within 1,500 feet of seven facility types. Under (b)(3), the placement requires reliable evidence of a 90 per cent adult audience. Under (c), the creative carries the warning at not less than ten per cent of the advertisement space. Under (b)(1)(B), the creative may contain no image or visual representation of the cannabis plant.

Premises signage is treated separately. Monument, pylon and wayfinding signs meeting all four conditions at subsection (d) are exempt from the audience requirement, the 500 foot buffer and the warning.

Compliant Use of Geotargeting

• Model two exclusion layers. 1,500 feet for billboards across school grounds, houses of worship, recreation centers, child care centers, playgrounds, public parks and libraries, under (b)(2). 500 feet for other physical advertising visible to the public, across the same list excluding houses of worship, under (b)(7).
• Daypart billboard creative to the window between eleven o'clock p.m. and six o'clock a.m., under (b)(2).
• Exclude all transportation venues and all vehicles, including private vehicles and wraps, under (b)(11).
• For the media named in (b)(3), obtain reliable evidence of a 90 per cent adult audience and retain it in the advertising log required by §21a-421j-26(f).
• Have compliance sign off on how mobile display inventory is bought before launch, under (b)(4).
• Where relying on the outdoor signage exemption at (d), confirm all four conditions, including the three-colour limit.

One advertising statute applies to both. Section 21a-421bb binds cannabis establishments generally, a category including producers, dispensary facilities, cultivators, micro-cultivators, retailers, hybrid retailers licensed to sell both adult-use and medical, food and beverage manufacturers, product manufacturers, product packagers, and delivery services.

Two provisions treat medical differently. The discount prohibition at (b)(15) applies to cannabis that is not a medical marijuana product. The health claims prohibition at (b)(5) permits claims substantiated under Chapter 420f regulations, and claims verbally conveyed by a licensed pharmacist or other licensed medical practitioner in the course of business in, or while representing, a hybrid retailer or dispensary facility.

The terminology rule at (b)(9) excepts dispensary facilities and hybrid retailers from the prohibition on the word "dispensary."

Who regulates hemp here

The Department of Consumer Protection, through the licensed cannabis channel. Connecticut brought high-THC hemp products into that channel rather than running a parallel hemp retail market.

Non-intoxicating hemp and CBD

A non-intoxicating CBD product sold outside the licensed cannabis channel is not advertised by a cannabis establishment, so §21a-421bb does not apply to it. General Connecticut consumer protection law and federal restrictions on health claims apply instead.

Intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids

Under Public Act 23-79 and Public Act 23-166, hemp manufacturer products may be sold at licensed dispensary facilities, hybrid retailers and retailers. Effective July 1, 2024, only cannabis retail establishments, meaning dispensary facilities, hybrid retailers and retailers, together with package stores holding a waiver, may offer THC-infused beverages for retail sale. The federal definition of hemp narrows in November 2026.

What it means for advertising

A hemp manufacturer product or THC beverage sold through a licensed cannabis retailer is advertised by a cannabis establishment, so §21a-421bb and §21a-421j-26 apply in full: the 90 per cent threshold at (b)(3), the plant imagery prohibition at (b)(1)(B), the ten per cent warning at (c), the fair balance requirement at §21a-421j-26(d), the discount prohibition at (b)(15), and the buffers at (b)(2) and (b)(7). Enforcement of the cannabis framework sits with the Department of Consumer Protection.

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

• Conn. Gen. Stat. §21a-421bb, prohibitions re advertisement of cannabis and cannabis products, registration of cannabis brand names
• Department of Consumer Protection, Policies and Procedures for the Adult-Use Cannabis Program, §§21a-421j-1 to 21a-421j-41, including §21a-421j-26 on advertising
• Chapter 420h, Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis, Connecticut General Assembly
• Public Act 22-103 and Public Act 22-104, and Public Act 24-76 effective July 1, 2024, and Public Act 25-166
• Connecticut General Assembly Office of Legislative Research report 2023-R-0167, Cannabis Advertising
• Department of Consumer Protection, Cannabis and Advertising guidance
• Department of Consumer Protection guidance on advertisement preapproval, the advertising log, and social media access