Rhode Island Cannabis Advertising Laws

Rhode Island's Cannabis Control Commission rules took effect May 1, 2025, replacing the Department of Business Regulation regime. Advertising is permitted across online, broadcast, print and outdoor media, subject to an 85 percent adult audience standard, a three-part disclosure block including the universal symbol in colour, and a 500 foot buffer around pre-existing K-12 schools. The rule prohibits fluorescent and neon colours.

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Legal for cannabis establishment licensees across online, broadcast, print and outdoor media. Rule 2.8 contains no pre-approval requirement. The constraints are the three-part disclosure block at 2.8(B)(3), the 85 percent audience standard at 2.8(C), the eleven-item content list at 2.8(B)(4), and the 500 foot school buffer.

Rhode Island legalised adult use through the Rhode Island Cannabis Act in May 2022, with sales from December 2022. The Cannabis Control Commission took over from the Department of Business Regulation's Office of Cannabis Regulation, and the Commission's rules, RICR Title 560, became final and effective on May 1, 2025.

Advertising sits at 560-RICR-10-10-2.8, within Part 2, Operational Requirements for Cannabis Establishments, made under R.I. Gen. Laws Section 21-28.11-5(b)(20).

The superseded rule. The former DBR rule at 230-RICR-80-05-1.10 required all advertising to be restricted to a registered patient audience, prohibited any advertising viewable in a public space including billboards, bus wraps and benches, prohibited television, radio and print media entirely, and prohibited any mention of prices or the words sale, discount, coupon or special. None of those prohibitions appears in the current rule.

Medical and adult-use cannabis share one advertising rule set. The mandatory age line covers both programmes.

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

The cannabis establishment licence number is required in advertising under 2.8(B)(3)(ii).

The required disclosures

Under 2.8(B)(3), advertising must clearly and conspicuously include:

• The required universal symbol in colour
• The cannabis establishment licence number
• "For Ages 21+ and medical cannabis patients"
• Any other information required by the Commission

The universal symbol must be in colour. The age statement is a single line covering both programmes.

How the disclosures have to appear

Clearly and conspicuously. Rule 2.8 prescribes no percentage of the advertising area, no point size and no placement.

When the disclosures are not required

Rule 2.8(B)(3) states no exemption.

Hotline number

Not required.

Permitted media

Under 2.8(B)(2), permitted advertising media are:

• Online media, including cannabis establishment websites, video advertisements, social media and pop-up advertisements
• Broadcast media, including radio, television and film
• Print media, including newspapers, magazines and direct mail
• Outdoor media, including billboards and street furniture
• Any other media approved by the Commission

Prohibited content

Under 2.8(B)(4), advertising shall not:

• Suggest or imply that cannabis has curative or unproven therapeutic effects
• Reasonably appear to target individuals under 21
• Include images, symbols, wording or fonts that could be attractive to children, including animal characters, toys, cartoon characters, cartoon writing or similar images
• Contain fluorescent or neon colours
• Include images of children or minors
• Display the consumption, use, or transfer of cannabis or cannabis products
• Contain material that encourages excessive consumption
• Be combined with content relating to alcohol, nicotine, or any other regulated and/or controlled substance
• Be displayed or disseminated within 500 feet of a pre-existing public or private K-12 school
• Depict activities or persons in conditions under the influence of cannabis, including operating a motorised vehicle, boat, or machinery, or persons who are pregnant or breastfeeding
• Violate any state or federal trademark law or regulation

Three points on the drafting. The colour prohibition names fluorescent and neon colours, which reaches brand palettes as well as campaign creative. The combined-content limb names alcohol, nicotine "or any other regulated and/or controlled substance." And the therapeutic limb prohibits curative or unproven therapeutic effects, so a proven claim is not prohibited on the face of the rule; the Commission has published no standard for what counts as proven.

Fonts are named in the child-appeal limb alongside images, symbols and wording.

Third-party misuse of brand

Under 2.8(B)(5), where a third party has used a cannabis establishment's brand, trademark, brand name, location, or other distinguishing characteristics in an advertisement that does not comply with the rule, the establishment must immediately notify the Commission and issue a cease-and-desist notice to that third party. This is an affirmative duty rather than a liability rule.

Discounts, coupons, and price promotion

Permitted. Rule 2.8 contains no price or promotion prohibition. The superseded DBR rule prohibited including any prices or the terms sale, discount, coupon, special or similar; that prohibition does not appear in the current rule. Offers remain subject to the prohibition on material that encourages excessive consumption.

Pre-approval

Not required. Under 2.8(B)(2)(e) the Commission may approve additional advertising media, and under 2.8(B)(3)(d) it may require additional information in advertising.

What the Law Requires

Twenty-one, with medical patients named in the same line. The mandatory statement is "For Ages 21+ and medical cannabis patients," which covers both programmes in one asset.

Under 2.8(B)(4), advertising shall not reasonably appear to target individuals under 21, shall not include images of children or minors, and shall not include images, symbols, wording or fonts attractive to children.

Audience Percentage Thresholds

85 percent adult

Under 2.8(C), cannabis establishments must take reasonable measures to ensure that the selected advertising medium targets an audience of which 85 percent of the population is reasonably expected to be 21 or older, and must provide reliable, verifiable, and current audience composition data if requested by the Commission.

The evidentiary structure

The rule requires reasonable measures up front and production of data on request. Obtain reliable, verifiable and current composition data before the flight, since it must be producible on demand.

Scope

The requirement attaches to "the selected advertising medium" without exception, so it applies to outdoor media as well as broadcast, print and online.

Event sponsorship

Rule 2.8 sets no audience threshold specific to event sponsorship.

Where the burden sits

On the cannabis establishment, which must take the reasonable measures and produce the data.

Age Gating and Consent

Websites and online advertisements

Under 2.8(B)(2)(a)(i), cannabis establishment websites and online media advertisements shall only be accessible to those 21 years of age or older. Rule 2.8 prescribes no mechanism and no affirmation standard.

Direct communication

Rule 2.8 contains no age affirmation requirement for direct or individualized communication.

Location-based devices

Rule 2.8 contains no location-based device provision.

Established customers

Rule 2.8 contains no exception removing communications to existing customers or patients from the requirements.

People Depicted in Ads

Under 2.8(B)(4), no images of children or minors; no images, symbols, wording or fonts attractive to children including animal characters, toys, cartoon characters and cartoon writing; no display of the consumption, use or transfer of cannabis; and no depiction of activities or persons under the influence, including operating a motorised vehicle, boat or machinery, or persons who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Rule 2.8 sets no minimum age for persons appearing in advertising and states no celebrity restriction. The pregnancy and breastfeeding limb is a depiction prohibition rather than a warning requirement.

Restricted Locations and Buffer Distances

500 feet from a pre-existing K-12 school

Under 2.8(B)(4)(i), advertising shall not be displayed or disseminated within 500 feet of a pre-existing public or private K-12 school.

Three features of the drafting

The facility list is a single type: K-12 schools. Rule 2.8 names no playground, park, library, childcare centre, recreation centre or place of worship. The distance is 500 feet. And "pre-existing" conditions the prohibition on the school predating the advertising.

Scope

The limb reads "displayed or disseminated," which covers served digital delivery as well as physical placement.

Transit and venues

Rule 2.8 contains no transit or venue prohibition. Street furniture is expressly permitted under 2.8(B)(2)(d), reversing the superseded rule's prohibition on benches and bus wraps.

Can You Run a Digital Out of Home Screen in Rhode Island?

Outdoor media including billboards and street furniture is expressly permitted under 2.8(B)(2)(d). Four checks apply: the 500 foot pre-existing K-12 school exclusion, the 85 percent audience standard applied to the site, the content list including the fluorescent and neon colour prohibition, and the disclosure block with the colour universal symbol.

Compliant Use of Geotargeting

• Build 500 foot exclusions around pre-existing public and private K-12 schools. Rule 2.8 names no other facility type.
• Apply the exclusion to served digital delivery as well as physical placement, since 2.8(B)(4)(i) reads "displayed or disseminated."
• Hold reliable, verifiable and current composition data showing 85 percent adult, including for outdoor sites, since the Commission can request it.
• Check brand colours against the fluorescent and neon prohibition before producing creative.
• Put a documented brand-monitoring, notification and cease-and-desist process in place, since 2.8(B)(5) makes it an affirmative duty.
• Plan for delivery into Massachusetts and Connecticut, each of which applies its own advertising rules.

One advertising rule set. Rhode Island runs both programmes under the Cannabis Control Commission, following the transfer from the Department of Business Regulation. The market operates largely through hybrid retailers selling both medical and adult-use cannabis, alongside compassion centers serving patients.

Rule 2.8 treats the programmes together, and the single mandatory age line, "For Ages 21+ and medical cannabis patients," covers both, so one creative asset can serve both programmes.

Compassion centers and hybrid cannabis retailers have required patient outreach activities under 560-RICR-10-10-2.21, which is a separate obligation from advertising and should be read alongside 2.8 for any patient-facing communication plan.

The medical programme was established under the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act. The Commission has been required to report on the impact of adult use on medical availability, patient access, caregiver registrations and fee structures.

Who regulates hemp here

The Department of Business Regulation has administered the state hemp programme, separately from the Cannabis Control Commission's authority over cannabis establishments.

Non-intoxicating hemp and CBD

Permitted through general retail. A hemp product within the federal definition and sold outside the licensed cannabis channel is not advertised by a cannabis establishment licensee, so 560-RICR-10-10-2.8 does not reach it. General Rhode Island consumer protection law and federal restrictions on health claims apply instead.

Intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids

Rhode Island has restricted intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid products outside the licensed channel, and the position has continued to develop alongside the Commission's assumption of authority. The federal definition of hemp narrows in November 2026. Confirm the current position before planning any intoxicating hemp campaign.

What it means for advertising

A product advertised by a cannabis establishment carries the universal symbol in colour, the licence number, the age line, the 85 percent audience standard, the 500 foot buffer and the content list. A non-intoxicating hemp product in general retail carries none of it. Classify each product before building a media plan.

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

• 560-RICR-10-10-2.8, Advertising, Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission, effective May 1, 2025
• 560-RICR-10-10-2, Operational Requirements for Cannabis Establishments, including 2.21 required patient outreach activities
• R.I. Gen. Laws Section 21-28.11, the Rhode Island Cannabis Act, including Section 21-28.11-5(b)(20)
• R.I. Gen. Laws Section 21-28.6, the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act
• Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission

230-RICR-80-05-1.10, the former Department of Business Regulation advertising rule, has been superseded and is being repealed. Guidance describing a patient-only audience requirement, or prohibitions on billboards, broadcast, print and price advertising, reflects that repealed rule rather than current law.