Mississippi Cannabis Advertising Laws

Mississippi prohibits advertising and marketing in any media, then permits branding as a separate category. A licensee may not advertise on social media, but may establish a social media presence carrying general information on contact details, retail dispensing locations and a list of products available. Patient education is a third category with its own permissions, including use of the establishment's brand and images of cannabis.

Working with a partner that already knows these rules shortens the launch cycle. See how we run campaigns as a cannabis marketing agency in Mississippi.

Under Rule 3.2.1, medical cannabis establishments or entities acting on their behalf are prohibited from advertising and marketing in any media. Subchapter 3 permits specified branding activities, and Subchapter 5 permits patient education.

Mississippi legalised medical cannabis through the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act, Senate Bill 2095 (SB 2095), in February 2022, with sales beginning in 2023. There is no adult-use programme. The programme is administered by the Mississippi State Department of Health, with the Department of Revenue handling dispensary licensing.

Advertising sits in Miss. Admin. Code Title 15, Part 22, Subpart 3, Advertising and Marketing, promulgated under Miss. Code Ann. §§41-137-1 to 41-137-67.

The subpart is structured in three relevant parts. Subchapter 2 is headed Prohibition Against Advertising and Marketing. Subchapter 3 is headed Branding Requirements and permits specified activities. Subchapter 5 addresses education and permits further activities.

There is one advertising rule set. Mississippi 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.

What counts as advertising

Under Rule 3.1.2, advertising means all representations disseminated in any manner or by any means, other than labeling, for the purpose of inducing, or which are likely to induce, directly or indirectly, the purchase of medical cannabis. Labelling required by the programme is excluded.

The test is the purpose or likely effect of inducing purchase. The rule states "directly or indirectly" and "likely to induce."

What counts as a brand

Under the same rule, a brand is a name, term, design or symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller's goods or services as distinct from those of other sellers, and a company logo is considered a brand.

Business name and licence number

Not required. Subpart 3 contains no identification requirement for advertising.

The required warning statements

None in advertising, which is prohibited. Patient education materials carry disclosure requirements, set out below.

How the warnings have to appear

Not applicable to advertising. Subpart 3 prescribes no format standard for the patient education disclosures.

When the warnings are not required

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

Hotline number

Not required in advertising. Patient education materials must include the number for the closest poison control center.

The prohibition

Under Rule 3.2.1, medical cannabis establishments or entities acting on their behalf are prohibited from advertising and marketing in any media, including but not limited to:

• Radio
• Television
• Unsolicited internet pop-up advertising
• Social media
• Newspaper
• Mass text and messaging communications
• Mass email communications
• Display of medical cannabis or products in windows or public view
• Advertisement in any manner that can be viewable or otherwise perceived as a public space, including adopt-a-highway signs and electronic interstate signs
• Solicited or paid patient or caregiver reviews, testimonies or endorsements
• Solicited or paid practitioner reviews, testimonies or endorsements

The list is introduced by "including but not limited to," so a medium not named is not thereby permitted. The prohibition binds entities acting on the establishment's behalf as well as the establishment. The endorsement prohibitions are qualified by "solicited or paid."

Prohibited content

Under Rule 3.2.2, no establishment shall engage in advertising containing any statement or illustration that:

• Depicts the actual consumption of cannabis or cannabis products
• Promotes overconsumption
• Makes any health, medicinal, or therapeutic claims
• Makes safety claims of any type
• Includes the image of a cannabis leaf or bud
• Includes any image designed or likely to appeal to minors, including cartoons, toys, animals, or children, or any other likeness, images, characters or phrases designed in any manner to be appealing to children or youth

The safety claims limb states "of any type" and is not qualified by reference to regulation or testing. The leaf and bud prohibition applies to advertising; Subchapter 5 provides a carve-out for patient education.

Permitted branding activities

Under Rule 3.3.2, permissible branding activities include the establishment of a website and/or social media presence that provides general information on the licensed entity's contact information, retail dispensing locations, and a list of products available; and listings in business directories, inclusive of phone books and cannabis-related or medical publications.

Patient education

Under Subchapter 5, education on the risks and benefits of medical cannabis between a registered practitioner or establishment and a qualified patient, caregiver, parent or legal guardian may include written or video educational materials inclusive of the establishment's brand. Education including instruction on safe use is permissible. Pictures and images of cannabis and cannabis products must be limited to patient education.

Patient education materials must include information about the potential risks and side effects of medical cannabis use, including the risk of poisoning and the number for the closest poison control center.

Discounts, coupons, and price promotion

Price promotion is a representation likely to induce purchase, which is advertising under Rule 3.1.2 and prohibited under Rule 3.2.1. A list of products available is permitted branding under Rule 3.3.2.

Pre-approval

Not required. Subpart 3 contains no pre-submission requirement.

What the Law Requires

Subpart 3 states no age threshold for advertising. The age-related control is at Rule 3.2.2: no image designed or likely to appeal to minors, including cartoons, toys, animals, or children, or any other likeness, images, characters or phrases designed in any manner to be appealing to children or youth.

Mississippi permits qualifying patients under 18 with parent or guardian involvement, which the education provisions reflect in referencing parents and legal guardians alongside patients and caregivers.

Audience Percentage Thresholds

Subpart 3 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. Mississippi states no equivalent figure.

Rule 3.2.1 is framed as a prohibition on advertising and marketing in any media rather than as a condition on audience composition.

Event sponsorship

Subpart 3 sets no audience threshold specific to event sponsorship.

Where the burden sits

On the medical cannabis establishment and on entities acting on its behalf, both of whom Rule 3.2.1 names.

Age Gating and Consent

Websites

Subpart 3 prescribes no website age gate and no age verification requirement.

Direct communication

Subpart 3 contains no age affirmation requirement. Under Rule 3.2.1, mass text and messaging communications and mass email communications are prohibited. Subchapter 5 frames education as a communication between a registered practitioner or establishment and a qualified patient, caregiver, parent or legal guardian.

Location-based devices

Subpart 3 contains no location-based device provision.

Established customers

Subpart 3 states no exception for existing patients. The prohibition on mass text and mass email is not qualified by consent.

People Depicted in Ads

Under Rule 3.2.2, no depiction of the actual consumption of cannabis or cannabis products, and no image designed or likely to appeal to minors, including cartoons, toys, animals or children.

Under Rule 3.2.1, no solicited or paid patient, caregiver or practitioner reviews, testimonies or endorsements. The prohibition is qualified by "solicited or paid."

Subpart 3 sets no minimum age for persons appearing in content.

Restricted Locations and Buffer Distances

Subpart 3 states no advertising buffer. The rules contain no distance requirement around schools, childcare facilities, playgrounds, parks or libraries. This is an absence in the rules rather than an omission from this page.

What applies instead

The public-space prohibition at Rule 3.2.1, which reaches any advertisement viewable or perceivable as a public space and names adopt-a-highway signs and electronic interstate signs, and the prohibition on displaying cannabis or products in windows or public view.

Licensing Buffers That Are Not Advertising Buffers

Mississippi applies distance requirements to where a dispensary may be located relative to schools, churches and childcare facilities. Those are licensing rules governing facility siting and are not advertising provisions.

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

Rule 3.2.1 prohibits advertisement in any manner that can be viewable or otherwise perceived as a public space, and names electronic interstate signs expressly. Subpart 3 provides no permitted out of home advertising route.

Compliant Use of Geotargeting

• Subpart 3 states no advertising buffer, and permits no paid media placement to geofence.
• Classify every communication against the inducement test at Rule 3.1.2 before producing it, since that test separates prohibited advertising from permitted branding.
• Keep the social media presence to the three categories Rule 3.3.2 names: contact information, retail dispensing locations, and a list of products available.
• Keep patient education material clearly identified, since Subchapter 5 carries broader permissions including brand inclusion and cannabis imagery, and its own disclosure requirements.
• Do not solicit or pay for reviews, testimonials or endorsements from patients, caregivers or practitioners, under Rule 3.2.1.
• Confirm Rules 3.3.3 to 3.3.5 before finalising any plan, since they were not fully available when this page was written.

One advertising rule set. Mississippi is medical only. Voters approved Initiative 65 in 2020, which the Mississippi Supreme Court invalidated in 2021 on procedural grounds. The legislature responded with the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act in February 2022, and sales began in 2023.

Certification comes from a registered practitioner, defined as a physician, certified nurse practitioner, physician assistant or optometrist licensed to prescribe medicine and registered with the Department to issue written certifications.

Regulation is split between the State Department of Health, which runs the programme and licenses most establishment types, and the Department of Revenue, which licenses dispensaries.

Patient education under Subchapter 5 is the most permissive part of the framework. Education on the risks and benefits of medical cannabis between a registered practitioner or establishment and a qualified patient, caregiver, parent or legal guardian may include written or video educational materials inclusive of the establishment's brand. Education including instruction on safe use is permissible. Pictures and images of cannabis and cannabis products must be limited to patient education, which is an express carve-out from the leaf and bud prohibition at Rule 3.2.2.

Patient education materials must include information about the potential risks and side effects of medical cannabis use, including the risk of poisoning and the number for the closest poison control center. The rule states "closest," which indicates a location-appropriate number.

Who regulates hemp here

The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce administers the hemp cultivation programme, separately from the Department of Health's medical cannabis programme.

Non-intoxicating hemp and CBD

Permitted through general retail. A hemp product within the federal definition and sold outside the licensed medical channel is not a medical cannabis establishment advertising, so Subpart 3 does not reach it. General Mississippi consumer protection law and federal restrictions on health claims apply instead.

Intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids

Mississippi has acted to restrict intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid products outside the licensed channel, and the position has continued to develop. The federal definition of hemp narrows in November 2026. Confirm the current status before planning any hemp campaign.

What it means for advertising

A licensed medical cannabis establishment is subject to the prohibition at Rule 3.2.1 and limited to the branding activities at Rule 3.3.2 and the education activities at Subchapter 5. A hemp seller outside the licensed channel is not a medical cannabis establishment and Subpart 3 does not reach it. Classify each product before building a media plan.

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

• Miss. Admin. Code Title 15, Part 22, Subpart 3, Advertising and Marketing, including Subchapter 1 general provisions, Subchapter 2 prohibition against advertising and marketing, Subchapter 3 branding requirements and Subchapter 5 education
• Miss. Code Ann. §§41-137-1 to 41-137-67, the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act
• Mississippi State Department of Health, Medical Cannabis Program
• Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Hemp Program

Rules 3.3.3 to 3.3.5, within the branding subchapter, were not fully available when this page was written. Confirm the complete branding provisions before finalising a Mississippi marketing plan.