Texas Cannabis Advertising Laws

Texas has no cannabis advertising regulation. Neither the Texas Compassionate-Use Act nor the Department of Public Safety's rules contain an advertising provision: no content list, no warning statement, no audience threshold, no buffer distance and no channel restrictions. The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, federal restrictions on health claims, and general outdoor advertising and sign law apply instead.

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Advertising by a licensed dispensing organisation is not prohibited or conditioned by the Compassionate Use Act or the Department's rules. There is no pre-approval requirement, no mandatory disclosure, no audience threshold and no placement restriction. The Deceptive Trade Practices Act, federal restrictions on health claims, and general advertising and sign law apply.

Texas has no adult-use programme. It operates the Compassionate Use Program, created by Senate Bill 339 in 2015 and codified at Chapter 487 of the Health and Safety Code, with rules at Title 37, Chapter 12 of the Texas Administrative Code. The regulator is the Department of Public Safety.

Texas uses a prescription model. Under Chapter 169 of the Occupations Code, a qualified physician prescribes low-THC cannabis and registers as the prescriber in the Compassionate Use Registry of Texas. The registry prevents more than one physician registering as prescriber for a single patient.

The programme expanded in 2025. House Bill 46, effective September 1, 2025, amended Chapter 487 across more than a dozen sections, increasing the number of dispensing organisation licences the department shall issue to fifteen, changing product limits, and revising licensing and dispensing duties.

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

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

There is no cannabis advertising rule

Chapter 487 addresses the compassionate-use registry, licensing of dispensing organisations, registration of directors, owners, managers, members and employees, duties relating to dispensing, inspection, and research and reporting. Title 37, Chapter 12 addresses applications, disqualification, licence issuance and renewal, inventory control, security, recordkeeping, registrant cards, inspections and registry access. Neither contains an advertising section.

This is an absence in state law rather than an omission from this page.

Business name and licence number

Not required in advertising. A licensee must conspicuously display its department-issued licence at the premises, and registrants must carry or display their department-issued registration cards while performing regulated actions. Those are premises and personnel duties.

The required warning statements

None. Texas mandates no warning language in cannabis advertising, no licence number and no hotline.

How the warnings have to appear

Not applicable, as none are required.

When the warnings are not required

Not applicable. There are no advertising rules to disapply.

Hotline number

Not required.

Prohibited content

No cannabis-specific content rule exists. What applies instead:

• The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Business and Commerce Code Chapter 17, which prohibits false, misleading or deceptive acts in trade and commerce and carries a private right of action
• Federal restrictions on health claims. Low-THC cannabis is not an FDA-approved drug, so claims that it treats, cures, prevents or mitigates disease raise federal exposure independent of state law

The prescription structure

Low-THC cannabis is prescribed rather than selected by the consumer, and Section 487.107 requires the dispensing organisation to verify against the registry before dispensing. Chapter 487 and 37 TAC Chapter 12 contain no provision addressing advertising directed at patients rather than prescribers, and the Department has published no guidance on the point.

Product limits

Under Section 487.107(c), as amended by House Bill 46 effective September 1, 2025, a dispensing organisation may not dispense low-THC cannabis in a package or container containing more than a total of one gram of tetrahydrocannabinols, or in a medical device for pulmonary inhalation containing more than one gram of tetrahydrocannabinols. Check creative referencing quantity or potency against that limit.

Discounts, coupons, and price promotion

No cannabis-specific restriction exists. Promotions are governed by the Deceptive Trade Practices Act and general law. The dispensing duties in Section 487.107 require verification against the registry before dispensing, including that the prescription has not already been filled.

Pre-approval

Not required. The Department does not review advertising.

What the Law Requires

The cannabis rules set no advertising age standard. The Compassionate Use Program has no minimum patient age: low-THC cannabis may be prescribed to patients of any age with a qualifying condition, with a legal guardian involved for minors.

Texas therefore states no 21-plus or 18-plus framing in its cannabis advertising provisions, because it has none.

Audience Percentage Thresholds

Texas sets no audience composition percentage. This is an absence in state law 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.

Event sponsorship

Texas sets no audience threshold specific to event sponsorship.

Where the burden sits

Texas imposes no audience composition evidence or recordkeeping duty for cannabis advertising. For a regional campaign, the applicable thresholds are those of the other states in the delivery footprint.

Age Gating and Consent

Websites

Texas prescribes no website age gate and no age verification requirement in the cannabis rules.

Direct communication

Texas states no age affirmation requirement for direct or individualized communication.

Location-based devices

Texas has no location-based device provision.

Established customers

Not applicable. There is no cannabis advertising definition to which an exception would attach.

People Depicted in Ads

The cannabis rules contain no casting restriction, no minimum age for persons appearing in advertising, no prohibition on depicting consumption, and no cartoon, mascot or celebrity provision.

General law applies: depiction that misleads is actionable under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and imagery implying therapeutic outcomes carries federal health claim exposure.

Restricted Locations and Buffer Distances

Texas states no cannabis advertising buffer. Chapter 487 and 37 TAC Chapter 12 contain no distance requirement around schools, childcare facilities, playgrounds, parks, libraries or places of worship, and no transit or public property prohibition. This is an absence in state law rather than an omission from this page.

Licensing Provisions That Are Not Advertising Provisions

Licensing provisions require premises reasonably located to allow registry patients access through existing infrastructure, and Texas operates a vertically integrated model in which a dispensing organisation cultivates, processes and dispenses. House Bill 46 introduced provisions relevant to additional locations. Those govern facilities rather than advertisements.

What Applies to Physical Placement

The Texas Highway Beautification Act and municipal sign ordinances, neither of which is cannabis-specific.

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

The cannabis rules contain no prohibition, buffer, daypart or content rule. General outdoor advertising law and the local sign ordinance are the applicable checks.

Compliant Use of Geotargeting

• Texas states no cannabis advertising buffer, so there is no facility exclusion layer required by state law.
• Do not carry facility siting or licensing provisions into a media exclusion layer.
• Check the Texas Highway Beautification Act and municipal sign ordinances for physical placement.
• Plan for delivery into Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana, each of which regulates advertising where Texas does not.
• Note that the addressable population is defined by prescription through the Compassionate Use Registry.

Texas has no adult-use programme. Possession of marijuana remains a criminal offence, and low-THC cannabis under the Compassionate Use Program is the only lawful route.

The programme is a prescription model. Under Chapter 169 of the Occupations Code a qualified physician registers as the prescriber for a patient in the Compassionate Use Registry, recording the patient's name and date of birth, the dosage prescribed, the means of administration ordered, and the total amount required to fill the prescription. Under Section 487.107, before dispensing, the dispensing organisation must verify that the prescription is for a person listed in the registry, matches the registry entry as to total amount, and has not previously been filled. After dispensing it records the form and quantity dispensed and the date and time.

House Bill 46, effective September 1, 2025, expanded the programme, including a requirement that the department issue fifteen dispensing organisation licences where sufficient qualifying applications are received, and amendments to eligibility, issuance, dispensing duties and research provisions. The Department issues initial licences based on a competitive evaluation of applicant qualifications relative to other applicants, and must ensure adequate access for registry patients in each public health region.

Who regulates hemp here

The Texas Department of State Health Services regulates consumable hemp products, and the Department of Agriculture regulates hemp cultivation. Both are separate from the Department of Public Safety, which runs the Compassionate Use Program.

Non-intoxicating hemp and CBD

Permitted through general retail under the state consumable hemp programme, subject to registration, testing and labelling requirements. Because the Compassionate Use Program contains no advertising rule, neither category is subject to cannabis-specific advertising regulation at state level.

Intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids

Senate Bill 3 in the 2025 session would have banned consumable hemp products containing THC; it was vetoed in June 2025. Executive and agency action followed, directing restrictions including a minimum purchase age of 21 and enforcement against sales to minors, with further rulemaking and litigation continuing. The position has not settled. The federal definition of hemp narrows in November 2026.

What it means for advertising

Neither channel carries a cannabis-specific advertising rule at state level, so the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, federal health claim restrictions and general law govern both. Confirm the current status of any intoxicating hemp product before planning, since the framework has changed several times in short order.

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

• Tex. Health & Safety Code Chapter 487, Texas Compassionate-Use Act, as amended by Acts 2025, 89th Legislature, Chapter 710 (House Bill 46), effective September 1, 2025
• 37 Tex. Admin. Code Chapter 12, Compassionate-Use/Low-THC Cannabis Program, Texas Department of Public Safety
• Tex. Occupations Code Chapter 169, Authority to Prescribe Low-THC Cannabis
• Texas Department of Public Safety, Compassionate Use Program
• Tex. Business & Commerce Code Chapter 17, Deceptive Trade Practices Act
• Texas Department of State Health Services, Consumable Hemp Program