Louisiana Cannabis Advertising Laws

Louisiana prohibits a marijuana pharmacy from advertising through any public medium, including newspapers, billboards, television, radio, internet and social media. The one permitted marketing route is direct mail, brochures or other means to Louisiana-licensed physicians, where the material is directed solely to the practitioner and is not available to the general public. Louisiana sets no audience composition percentage, requires no warning statement in advertising, and states no advertising buffer.

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A marijuana pharmacy shall not advertise through any public medium. The permitted route is marketing to Louisiana-licensed physicians, by direct mail, brochures or other means, where the material is directed solely to the practitioner and is not available to the general public.

Louisiana operates a medical cannabis programme originally authorised in 1991 and reactivated by the Alison Neustrom Act in 2015. There is no adult-use programme. Smokable flower was added in 2022.

Regulatory authority has moved twice. The Department of Agriculture and Forestry ran the programme originally. Acts 491 and 492 of 2022 moved primary authority to the Louisiana Department of Health. Act 693 of 2024 transferred regulation of marijuana retailers from the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy to LDH, with the LDH Cannabis Program regulating retail sites from January 1, 2025.

LDH's rule is now final, and it contains no advertising provision. LDH promulgated its Medical Marijuana Final Rule effective January 20, 2026, published at LR 52:59-65. The rule amended Chapters 1, 5, 7 and 9 of LAC 51:XXIX governing manufacturers, and enacted an entire new Subpart 2, Marijuana Retailers, comprising:

• Chapter 21, general requirements and definitions, including product requirements at Section 2103
• Chapter 23, permits, including application requirements, renewal, suspension, revocation and renovations
• Chapter 25, inspections and operational requirements, including security, inventory control and point-of-sale systems, deliveries, fulfilment, labelling and packaging, waste disposal, and basic facility requirements

No chapter of Subpart 2 addresses advertising or marketing. The advertising restriction described on this page therefore originates in the Board of Pharmacy's marijuana pharmacy rules, which predate the transfer. This page records what the Board of Pharmacy rule says and flags that LDH has not promulgated a replacement.

There is one advertising rule set. Louisiana has no adult-use programme and no second framework.

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

The prohibition

A marijuana pharmacy shall not advertise through any public medium, including but not limited to newspapers, billboards, television, radio, internet, social media, or any other means designed to market its products to the general public.

The named media are stated as examples. The operative test is whether the means is designed to market products to the general public.

The permitted route

A marijuana pharmacy may market its products through direct mail, brochures, or other means to Louisiana-licensed physicians, but only when such advertising is directed solely to the practitioner and is not available to the general public.

Three conditions apply together: the recipient must be a Louisiana-licensed physician; the material must be directed solely to that practitioner; and it must not be available to the general public.

Business name and licence number

Not required in advertising. Neither the advertising provision nor the LDH rule states an identification requirement for advertising. Under Section 2501(D) of the LDH rule, permits are required to be displayed on the premises in a prominent location, which is a premises duty.

The required warning statements

None in advertising. Louisiana's disclosure requirements attach to the product label under Section 2507(H), which must carry the name, address and telephone number of the retail firm; the name of the recommending authorised clinician; the patient's name; date of fulfilment; a unique transaction identification number; the identity of the product; quantity; directions for use; and expiration date.

How the warnings have to appear

Not applicable, as none are required in advertising.

When the warnings are not required

Not applicable. There is no advertising disclosure requirement to disapply.

Hotline number

No. Louisiana requires no helpline, hotline or poison control number in advertising.

Prohibited content

Advertising permitted under the physician route shall not make any deceptive, false, or misleading assertions or statements regarding any product, and shall not assert that its products are safe because they are regulated by the state agency or the board.

A licensee may advertise that its products have been tested by approved laboratories. The provision permits the statement that testing occurred and prohibits the assertion that regulation or testing makes the product safe.

Discounts, coupons, and price promotion

Price promotion to the public is advertising through a public medium and is prohibited. Within physician-directed material, price is not expressly addressed. The content limits on deceptive, false or misleading statements apply.

Pre-approval

Not required by the LDH rule, which contains no advertising provision and therefore no pre-approval mechanism for advertising. Confirm the position with LDH.

Laboratory results on request

Separately from advertising, under Section 2507(B)(3) a retailer shall provide laboratory test results for any marijuana product available for sale to the patient upon request. This is a disclosure duty rather than a marketing permission.

What the Law Requires

Louisiana defines its permitted audience by profession rather than by age: Louisiana-licensed physicians. The provision states no age threshold.

The programme itself sets no minimum patient age, and under Section 2101 Louisiana recognises visiting qualifying patients, meaning non-residents or people resident for fewer than 30 days who present a medical marijuana registry card from another state.

Audience Percentage Thresholds

Louisiana sets no audience composition percentage. This is an absence in the rules 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 Delaware requires at least 85 percent.

What the rules use instead

The recipient test. The operative questions are whether the recipient is a Louisiana-licensed physician, whether the material is directed solely to that practitioner, and whether it is available to the general public.

Event sponsorship

Neither the advertising provision nor the LDH rule states an audience threshold for event sponsorship, and neither contains a sponsorship permission.

Where the burden sits

On the marijuana pharmacy. The prohibition and the conditions on the permitted route both attach to it.

Age Gating and Consent

Websites

Neither rule prescribes a website age gate or an age verification requirement.

Direct communication

No age affirmation requirement. The condition on physician-directed material is that it be directed solely to the practitioner and not available to the general public, which turns on licensure rather than age.

Location-based devices

Neither rule contains a location-based device provision.

Established customers

Neither rule states an exception for existing patients. The permitted audience is Louisiana-licensed physicians.

People Depicted in Ads

Neither rule contains a casting restriction, a minimum age for persons appearing in advertising, a cartoon or mascot rule or a prohibition on depicting consumption.

The content limits are claim-based: no deceptive, false or misleading assertions or statements regarding any product, and no assertion that products are safe because they are regulated by the state agency or the board.

Restricted Locations and Buffer Distances

Louisiana states no advertising buffer. Neither rule contains a distance requirement around any facility type and neither contains a transit prohibition, because advertising through public media is prohibited outright. This is an absence in the rules rather than an omission from this page.

What constrains distribution instead

The recipient test. Physician-directed material must reach Louisiana-licensed physicians and must not be available to the general public.

Siting Separation Is Not an Advertising Buffer

Under Section 2303(C)(5) of the LDH rule, an applicant must provide a notarised, sworn affidavit that the proposed location meets the separation distance requirements stipulated in the statute and that applicable zoning requirements have been met. That governs where a retailer may be sited and is not an advertising provision.

Delivery Geography Is Not an Advertising Rule

Under Section 2507(C), retailers must make deliveries available on request at least once per month per ZIP code serviced, and no delivery may be made outside the state of Louisiana. Under Section 2507(G), marijuana products may not be provided to an out-of-state address even for a visiting qualifying patient. These are operational rules governing service rather than advertising provisions.

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

No. Billboards are named expressly among the prohibited public media, and a screen is a means designed to market products to the general public.

Compliant Use of Geotargeting

• Louisiana states no advertising buffer, and permits no public media placement to geofence.
• The permission runs to Louisiana-licensed physicians, so out-of-state prescribers are outside it.
• Verify licensure rather than age for any physician-facing channel, since licensure is what the rule states.
• Keep material unavailable to the general public, which the rule tests as a property of distribution.
• Do not carry the retailer siting separation or the delivery ZIP code obligation into a media exclusion layer. Both are operational provisions.
• Confirm with LDH whether the Board of Pharmacy advertising prohibition survives the transfer of authority, since LDH's final rule enacted a complete retailer subpart without an advertising provision.

One advertising rule set. Louisiana is medical only, operating a closed-loop, pharmacist-supervised model.

Structure. Two licensed manufacturers supply the state, and under Section 501(B) only a total of two licences may be issued for the production of medical marijuana. Under Section 2303(A) the department may issue no more than thirty permits for therapeutic marijuana retailers and their approved satellite locations, built on a statutory limit of ten primary retail permits plus satellites. Under Section 2303(F), each permitted facility must designate at least one registered pharmacist available to the primary site and its satellite locations by physical presence or availability by telephone or videoconference during its hours of operation.

Recommendation rather than prescription. An authorised clinician, a licensed health professional authorised under R.S. 40:1046, sends a paper or electronic recommendation bearing their signature directly to the retailer before fulfilment. Under Section 2507(B)(2) the recommendation must state the clinician's name, address and telephone number; the patient's name, address and date of birth; the debilitating medical condition being treated; any contraindicated dosage forms; a date and an expiration date not exceeding 12 months; and self-certification that the clinician is in good standing, with nurse practitioners affirming prescriptive authority from the State Board of Nursing.

Product forms. Under Section 2103(B): oils, extracts, tinctures or sprays; solid oral dosage forms; liquid oral dosage forms; gelatin or pectin-based chewables; topical creams, unguents or lotions; transdermal patches; suppositories; metered-dose inhalers; and other forms approved by the department. Under Section 2103(C) retailers may also distribute edible products and combustible forms made from marijuana flower. Under Section 2103(D) no product may include or be incorporated into an alcoholic beverage, a dietary supplement, or a drug other than marijuana, cannabis extracts or cannabis derivatives.

Purchase limits. Under Section 2505(C) a retailer must cross-reference the patient's sales history in the tracking system before sale, and must refuse a sale to ensure no patient receives more than 71 grams of raw marijuana in a 14-day period or any amount of another dosage form in excess of the clinician's recommendation.

Visiting patients. Retailers may serve visiting qualifying patients who present an out-of-state registry card, provided no product goes to an out-of-state address.

Adult use. Not legal. House Bill 373, filed in February 2026, proposed authorising adult-use sales from 2027. Possession of 14 grams or less was decriminalised in 2021.

Who regulates hemp here

Louisiana regulates consumable hemp products through a state framework administered with involvement from the Department of Health and the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, which handles permitting and enforcement for retail sale. LDH promulgated a separate Consumable Hemp Products final rule in January 2026, which includes product registration requirements at Section 517 and labelling and marketing provisions.

Non-intoxicating hemp and CBD

Permitted through permitted retail outlets under the consumable hemp programme, subject to registration, testing and labelling requirements. Each separate and distinct consumable hemp product must be registered with the department annually. A hemp product outside the therapeutic marijuana channel is not a marijuana pharmacy advertising its products, so the public-medium prohibition does not reach it. The consumable hemp framework carries its own advertising and marketing restrictions.

Intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids

Louisiana has legislated repeatedly in this area, imposing THC limits per serving and per package, age restrictions, packaging requirements and retail permitting for consumable hemp products, and tightening those limits across successive sessions. The federal definition of hemp narrows in November 2026. Confirm the current position before planning a hemp campaign.

What it means for advertising

A therapeutic marijuana retailer may market only to Louisiana-licensed physicians under the provision described on this page. A consumable hemp retailer operates in general retail under a separate framework with its own marketing rules. Classify each product and check the consumable hemp advertising provisions separately before building a media plan.

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

• Louisiana Board of Pharmacy marijuana pharmacy rules, the source of the public-medium advertising prohibition and the physician-directed marketing permission
• Louisiana Department of Health, Medical Marijuana Final Rule, Louisiana Register Vol. 52 No. 1, January 20, 2026, LR 52:59-65, amending LAC 51:XXIX Chapters 1, 5, 7 and 9 and enacting Subpart 2 Marijuana Retailers at Chapters 21, 23 and 25
• Louisiana Department of Health, Consumable Hemp Products Final Rule, January 2026
• La. R.S. 40:1046, the therapeutic marijuana statute, and R.S. 40:1046.1, visiting qualifying patients
• Act 693 of the 2024 Regular Session, transferring retailer regulation to LDH, and Act 150 of 2024, extending the programme sunset to 2030
• Louisiana Department of Health, Medical Marijuana

Act 693 moved retailer regulation to LDH effective January 1, 2025. LDH's final rule, effective January 20, 2026, enacted a complete new retailer subpart and contains no advertising provision. The prohibition described on this page originates in the Board of Pharmacy rules. Confirm directly with LDH whether that prohibition survives the transfer before relying on this page.