Vermont Cannabis Advertising Laws
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Each channel has its own rules in this state. Pick one to jump straight to what is allowed.
TL;DR
Vermont's Board presumes that more than 15 percent of an advertisement's audience is under 21 unless the advertiser shows otherwise by a preponderance of the evidence. It requires a warning of roughly 130 words on all marketing, advertising, branding, packaging and promotion, exactly as written. It presumes window displays and interior items visible from outside to be outdoor advertisements, and requires social media accounts to promote products only through links to an age-gated website.
Working with a partner that already knows these rules shortens the launch cycle. See how we run campaigns as a cannabis marketing agency in Vermont.
Vermont Cannabis Advertising Summary
Is Cannabis Advertising Legal in Vermont?
Legal for cannabis establishments, with no pre-approval requirement. The constraints are the mandatory warning at 2.2.10(a), the audience presumption at 2.2.12, the content list at 2.2.11, and the digital rules at 2.2.11(d) and (e).
Legal Framework and Compliance Basics
Vermont legalised possession in 2018 and created a regulated commercial market through Act 164 in 2020, with retail sales beginning October 2022. The regulator is the Cannabis Control Board. Advertising sits in statute at 7 V.S.A. Section 864 and in the Board's Rule 2, Regulation of Cannabis Establishments, at sections 2.2.10 Warning Labels, 2.2.11 Advertising, and 2.2.12 Audience Composition Presumptions for Advertising. This page is written against the adopted text published July 2025.
The audience rule is drafted as a presumption. Section 2.2.12 states what the Board will assume and what the advertiser must prove to displace the assumption.
The warning applies to advertising as well as packaging. Section 2.2.10(a) reaches all marketing, advertising, branding, packaging, and promotion alike.
Medical and adult-use cannabis share one advertising rule set. Rule 2 governs cannabis establishments generally.
This page is part of our state-by-state cannabis advertising laws library, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Advertising Rules by Channel in Vermont
Requirements That Apply to Every Channel
Business name and licence number
Not required by sections 2.2.10 to 2.2.12.
The required warning statement
Under section 2.2.10(a), all marketing, advertising, branding, packaging, and promotion must include the following warning exactly as written:
"Cannabis has not been analyzed or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For use by individuals 21 years of age and older or registered qualifying patient only. KEEP THIS PRODUCT AWAY FROM CHILDREN AND PETS. DO NOT USE IF PREGNANT OR BREASTFEEDING.
Possession or use of cannabis may carry significant legal penalties in some jurisdictions and under federal law. It may not be transported outside of the state of Vermont. The effects of edible cannabis may be delayed by two hours or more. Cannabis may be habit forming and can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. Persons 25 years and younger may be more likely to experience harm to the developing brain.
It is against the law to drive or operate machinery when under the influence of this product. National Poison Control Center 1-800-222-1222."
How the warning has to appear
Exactly as set out, including the bolded portions. The Board makes digital images of required warning labels available from its website. Section 2.2.10 prescribes no percentage of the advertising area for the advertising warning, and no audio speed or on-screen duration standard.
When the warning is not required
Section 2.2.10(a) reaches marketing, advertising, branding, packaging, and promotion, and states no exception.
Hotline number
Required, within the warning. The National Poison Control Center number 1-800-222-1222 appears on every advertisement.
Prohibited content
Under section 2.2.11, in addition to 7 V.S.A. Section 864 and the warning requirement:
- (a) No objects such as toys, inflatables, movie characters, cartoon characters, child-friendly depictions of food or other consumables, or any other display, depiction, or image designed in any manner likely to be appealing to minors or anyone under 21. This expressly includes brand logo development and any advertising used to market the licensee's dispensary or products.
- (b) No advertising or promoting in a manner that is false, untrue, or misleading.
- (c) No statement concerning a brand or product that is inconsistent with any statement on the labeling.
- (d) Websites for cannabis establishments must have age-gating.
- (e) Social media accounts may only promote products using links to their age-gated websites.
Subsection (a) names brand logo development, so the youth-appeal test applies at the identity design stage as well as to campaign creative.
Brand association liability
Under section 2.2.9(c), a cannabis establishment that associates with a brand it does not own or control is accountable for violations and product recalls resulting from conduct by the brand owner, as if the conduct were that of the establishment itself, even if the establishment could not prevent the conduct.
Discounts, coupons, and price promotion
Sections 2.2.10 to 2.2.12 contain no price advertising or discount prohibition. Promotions are subject to the warning, the content list and the audience presumption. Promotional material is "promotion" for the purposes of 2.2.10(a), so it carries the full warning.
Pre-approval
Not required. The Board does not review advertisements before use.
Vermont Display Advertising Laws
The presumption at 2.2.12(a) applies to any placement, and the warning applies in full.
What is allowed
Paid display, including programmatic, where the advertiser holds reliable, verifiable and current audience composition data showing less than 15 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be under 21.
What is not allowed
- Placement without evidence displacing the presumption — 2.2.12(a)
- Toys, inflatables, movie characters, cartoon characters, child-friendly depictions of food or other consumables, or any image likely to be appealing to anyone under 21 — 2.2.11(a)
- Statements concerning a brand or product inconsistent with the labeling — 2.2.11(c)
Required warnings and disclosures
The full warning, exactly as written. See Requirements That Apply to Every Channel above.
Hotline number required
Yes, within the warning.
Discounts and promotions on this channel
Permitted, subject to the warning and the content list.
Closing note
The warning runs to roughly 130 words and must appear exactly as written, so size the unit around it before production. Obtain the composition data before the flight, since under 2.2.12(a) the presumption operates unless the advertiser displaces it.
Vermont Native Advertising Laws
Section 2.2.11(c) requires consistency with the product labeling.
What is allowed
Native and sponsored content where the composition evidence displaces the presumption.
What is not allowed
- Statements concerning a brand or product inconsistent with any statement on the labeling — 2.2.11(c)
- Advertising or promoting in a manner that is false, untrue, or misleading — 2.2.11(b)
- Placement without evidence displacing the presumption — 2.2.12(a)
Required warnings and disclosures
The full warning, exactly as written. Federal Trade Commission disclosure expectations for sponsored content apply independently.
Hotline number required
Yes.
Discounts and promotions on this channel
Permitted, subject to the warning.
Closing note
Section 2.2.11(c) reaches any statement concerning a brand or product, so editorial copy must be reconciled against the approved label.
Vermont Online Video (OLV) Advertising Laws
The warning must appear exactly as written, and Rule 2 sets no duration standard.
What is allowed
Pre-roll, mid-roll and in-feed video where the composition evidence displaces the presumption.
What is not allowed
- Movie characters, cartoon characters, toys, inflatables and child-friendly depictions of food or other consumables — 2.2.11(a)
- Placement without evidence displacing the presumption — 2.2.12(a)
Required warnings and disclosures
The full warning, exactly as written. Section 2.2.10 prescribes no audio speed or on-screen duration standard, and the requirement that it appear exactly as written leaves no abbreviated form.
Hotline number required
Yes, within the warning.
Discounts and promotions on this channel
Permitted, subject to the warning.
Closing note
Roughly 130 words must appear exactly as written, and Rule 2 states no minimum hold time. Plan the disclosure treatment at storyboard stage.
Vermont Connected TV (CTV) Advertising Laws
Rule 2 contains no channel prohibition and no daypart restriction.
What is allowed
CTV and OTT placements where the composition evidence displaces the presumption.
What is not allowed
- Placement without evidence displacing the presumption — 2.2.12(a)
- The content list at 2.2.11
Required warnings and disclosures
The full warning, exactly as written.
Hotline number required
Yes.
Discounts and promotions on this channel
Permitted, subject to the warning.
Closing note
Section 2.2.12(a) requires evidence that is reliable, verifiable and current. Obtain written composition data as a condition of the buy and refresh it, since the rule requires current data. A Burlington buy delivers into New York and into Canada, and a southern Vermont buy into Massachusetts and New Hampshire, each of which applies its own rules.
Vermont Paid Search Advertising Laws
The warning applies without exemption for character-limited formats.
What is allowed
Search advertising where the composition evidence displaces the presumption.
What is not allowed
- Placement without evidence displacing the presumption — 2.2.12(a)
- The content list at 2.2.11
Required warnings and disclosures
The full warning. Section 2.2.10 provides no exemption for character-limited formats.
Hotline number required
Yes.
Discounts and promotions on this channel
Permitted, subject to the warning.
Vermont SEO and Website Advertising Laws
Section 2.2.11(e) makes the age-gated website the destination for social product promotion.
What is allowed
A licensee's own website, behind age-gating as required by 2.2.11(d).
What is not allowed
- Operating a cannabis establishment website without age-gating — 2.2.11(d)
- Statements concerning a brand or product inconsistent with the labeling, which reaches menu and product copy — 2.2.11(c)
- The remaining content prohibitions at 2.2.11
Required warnings and disclosures
The full warning on marketing, advertising, branding and promotion content.
Hotline number required
Yes, within the warning.
Discounts and promotions on this channel
Permitted, subject to the warning and the content list.
Closing note
Section 2.2.11(d) requires age-gating and prescribes no mechanism. Section 2.2.11(e) makes the age-gated website the permitted destination for social product promotion, so the gate is the control point for that route. Take advice on a configuration that satisfies both provisions.
Vermont Out of Home and DOOH Advertising Laws
Two provisions operate here: a statewide billboard prohibition and the outdoor presumption.
What is allowed
An outdoor placement where the advertiser can demonstrate the space will not be accessed by the general public and that those who can access it meet the audience metric in 7 V.S.A. Section 864(c).
What is not allowed
- Billboards. Vermont has prohibited them statewide since 1968, independent of cannabis law.
- Outdoor advertising without displacing the presumption at 2.2.12(b), under which the audience for any outdoor advertisement is presumed to be the general public, with under-21s at the same prevalence as in the general population.
- Window displays and items, text, or objects inside a retail establishment visible from outside, which under 2.2.12(c) are presumed to be outdoor advertisements, except signage as defined in 7 V.S.A. Section 861(2)(D).
Required warnings and disclosures
The full warning where the placement is advertising.
Hotline number required
Yes, within the warning.
Discounts and promotions on this channel
Subject to the same presumptions.
Closing note
The two presumptions compound: a window poster is presumed outdoor under 2.2.12(c), and outdoor is presumed to reach the general public under 2.2.12(b). The carve-out is signage as defined in 7 V.S.A. Section 861(2)(D). Identify what falls inside that definition before placing anything in a window or visible from the street.
Platform Specific Advertising Restrictions
X (formerly Twitter)
Permits limited paid cannabis advertising in select U.S. jurisdictions subject to approval, licensing verification and 21-plus targeting.
Platform approval is not regulatory approval, and platform compliance does not protect against a state violation. Under section 2.2.11(e), social media accounts for cannabis establishments may only promote products using links to their age-gated websites. Under section 2.2.9(c), a licensee that associates with a brand it does not own or control is accountable for the brand owner's conduct as if it were its own, even where the licensee could not have prevented it, which reaches brand partnership and affiliate arrangements.
Audience Requirements for Cannabis Advertising in Vermont
What the Law Requires
Twenty-one, framed as a cap on the under-21 share. The content test at 2.2.11(a) uses "minors or anyone under 21 years of age."
The mandatory warning references persons 25 and younger as more likely to experience harm to the developing brain, which is disclosure language rather than a targeting threshold.
Audience Percentage Thresholds
15 percent, as a rebuttable presumption
Under section 2.2.12(a), the Board will presume that more than 15 percent of the audience will be under 21 years of age, unless the prospective advertiser can show by a preponderance of the evidence that less than 15 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be under 21. Evidence must include reliable, verifiable, and current audience composition data.
A 15 percent under-21 cap is equivalent to an 85 percent adult floor. The distinctive feature is the burden: the rule states what the Board will presume, and places the evidentiary burden on the advertiser to displace it.
The outdoor presumption
Under 2.2.12(b), the audience for any outdoor advertisement is presumed to be the general public, with under-21s at the same prevalence as in the general population. Displacing it requires showing the space is not accessed by the general public.
The window display presumption
Under 2.2.12(c), window displays and items, text, or objects inside a retail establishment visible from outside are presumed to be outdoor advertisements, except signage as defined in 7 V.S.A. Section 861(2)(D).
Event sponsorship
Sections 2.2.10 to 2.2.12 set no audience threshold specific to event sponsorship.
Where the burden sits
On the prospective advertiser, as section 2.2.12(a) states.
Age Gating and Consent
Websites
Mandatory under 2.2.11(d). Rule 2 requires age-gating without prescribing a mechanism.
Social media
Under 2.2.11(e), accounts may only promote products using links to the age-gated website.
Location-based devices
Sections 2.2.10 to 2.2.12 contain no location-based device provision.
Established customers
Sections 2.2.10 to 2.2.12 contain no exception removing communications to existing customers or patients from the requirements.
People Depicted in Ads
Under 2.2.11(a), no toys, inflatables, movie characters, cartoon characters, child-friendly depictions of food or other consumables, or any other display, depiction, or image designed in any manner likely to be appealing to minors or anyone under 21.
Two features of the drafting. The prohibition reaches brand logo development, so it applies to identity design as well as advertising. And it names child-friendly depictions of food or other consumables rather than imitation of a specific branded product.
Rule 2 sets no minimum age for persons appearing in advertising and does not prohibit depicting consumption.
Geo Targeting Rules for Cannabis Advertising in Vermont
Restricted Locations and Buffer Distances
Sections 2.2.10 to 2.2.12 state no advertising buffer. They 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 the rules use instead
The audience presumptions at 2.2.12, which operate on the character of the audience rather than on named zones.
Vermont's Billboard Position
Vermont has prohibited billboards statewide since 1968, independent of cannabis law and applying to all advertisers.
Can You Run a Digital Out of Home Screen in Vermont?
The statewide billboard prohibition removes that inventory. For any remaining outdoor placement, 2.2.12(b) presumes the audience to be the general public, and displacing that presumption requires showing the space is not accessed by the general public and that those who can access it meet the audience metric in 7 V.S.A. Section 864(c).
Compliant Use of Geotargeting
- Sections 2.2.10 to 2.2.12 state no advertising buffer, so there is no facility exclusion layer required by state law. The control at 2.2.12 is evidentiary.
- Obtain reliable, verifiable and current audience composition data before every flight and refresh it, since 2.2.12(a) requires current data and places the burden on the advertiser.
- Treat window displays and interior items visible from the street as outdoor advertisements under 2.2.12(c), and identify what falls within the Section 861(2)(D) signage carve-out.
- Note the statewide billboard prohibition and the outdoor presumption at 2.2.12(b) when planning any out of home.
- Route social product promotion through the age-gated website, as 2.2.11(e) requires.
- Plan for delivery into New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Canada, each of which applies its own rules.
Need Help Running Compliant Campaigns in Vermont?
Knowing the rules is step one. Building campaigns that stay inside them and still produce sales is the harder part. MediaJel runs compliant programmatic, CTV, paid search, paid social, and SEO for Vermont retailers, brands, and MSOs, and ties every campaign to real online and in-store transactions through DataJel.
What Are the Recreational and Medical Marijuana Rules in Vermont?
One advertising rule set. Vermont runs both programmes under the Cannabis Control Board, following the transfer of the medical programme from the Department of Public Safety. Rule 2 governs cannabis establishments generally, and the advertising provisions are drafted around the cannabis establishment without separating adult-use from medical.
The medical programme appears in the advertising rules in one place, within the mandatory warning: the text reads "For use by individuals 21 years of age and older or registered qualifying patient only," which accommodates patients under 21 within a single warning.
Retailers with a medical use endorsement have additional operational options, including drive-through transactions subject to express written authorisation from the local cannabis control commission or municipal legislative body and confirmation of insurance coverage. Retailers must also display a safety information flyer created by the Board at the point of purchase under 7 V.S.A. Section 907(d), which the Board may update at any time.
What Are the Hemp and CBD Rules in Vermont?
Who regulates hemp here
Vermont's hemp programme sat with the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, and the state ceased administering its own hemp programme in favour of the federal programme, with hemp cultivation moving to United States Department of Agriculture licensing.
Non-intoxicating hemp and CBD
Permitted through general retail. A hemp product within the federal definition sold outside the licensed cannabis channel is not advertised by a cannabis establishment, so Rule 2's advertising provisions do not reach it. General Vermont consumer protection law and federal restrictions on health claims apply instead.
Intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids
Vermont has moved to bring intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids inside the regulated cannabis channel, restricting their sale outside licensed establishments and treating synthetically derived cannabinoids restrictively. The federal definition of hemp narrows in November 2026. Confirm the current position before planning any intoxicating hemp campaign.
What it means for advertising
Where a product is routed through a licensed cannabis establishment, everything on this page applies: the warning at 2.2.10(a), the audience presumption at 2.2.12, the window display presumption and the social media routing requirement. A non-intoxicating hemp product in general retail carries none of it. Classify each product before building a media plan.
Vermont Legislation and Source Regulations
Every statement on this page traces to one of the following:
- Cannabis Control Board Rule 2, Regulation of Cannabis Establishments, adopted text July 2025, including sections 2.2.9 Packaging and Branding, 2.2.10 Warning Labels, 2.2.11 Advertising, and 2.2.12 Audience Composition Presumptions for Advertising
- 7 V.S.A. Section 864, advertising, and Section 861(2)(D), the signage definition
- 7 V.S.A. Section 907, retail sales and the safety information flyer requirement
- Vermont Cannabis Control Board
Disclaimer
Please note that we are not legal professionals, and the information provided in this article should not be interpreted as legal advice. Cannabis laws and regulations are subject to frequent changes and vary by state and locality. We strongly recommend consulting with qualified legal counsel to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. For the most up-to-date guidance on state-specific marketing rules, please reach out to the MediaJel team directly.
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