Vermont Cannabis Advertising Laws

Allowed

‍

A dispensary advertisement shall not contain any statement or illustration that:

(1) is deceptive, false, or misleading;

(2) promotes overconsumption;

(3) represents that the use of cannabis has curative effects;

(4) offers a prize, award, or inducement for purchasing cannabis or a cannabis product, except that price discounts are allowed;

(5) offers free samples of cannabis or cannabis products;

(6) depicts a person under 21 years of age consuming cannabis or cannabis products; or

(7) is designed to be or has the effect of being particularly appealing to persons under 21 years of age.

(c) Dispensaries shall not advertise their products via any medium unless the licensee can show that not more than 15 percent of the audience is reasonably expected to be under 21 years of age.

(d) All advertisements shall contain health warnings adopted by rule by the Board in consultation with the Department of Health.

(e) All advertisements shall be submitted to the Board on a form or in a format prescribed by the Board, prior to the dissemination of the advertisement. The Board may:

(1) require a specific disclosure be made in the advertisement in a clear and conspicuous manner if the Board determines that the advertisement would be false or misleading without such a disclosure; or

(2) require changes that are necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare or consistent with dispensing information for the product under review.

https://ccb.vermont.gov/sites/ccb/files/2022-11/Advertising.Guidance_FINAL.pdf

‍

OOH Advertising laws

‍

“That the audience for any outdoor advertisement is the general public, and those under 21 years of age will have the same prevalence in that audience as they do in the general public, unless a prospective advertiser can demonstrate that an outdoor space will not be accessed by the general public and that those who can access it meet the audience metric of 7 V.S.A. § 864(c).”

Audience Composition for Signs & Displays

“Except for signage as defined in 7 V.S.A. § 861(2)(D), window displays, or items, text, or objects inside a retail Cannabis Establishment that are visible to a person standing outside the establishment, will be considered an outdoor advertisement for the purposes of this rule.” Rule 2.2.12(c). Signs affixed to storefronts or buildings that merely identify the location of a Cannabis Establishment are not advertising and needn’t meet the 15% audience-composition requirement. However, window displays (see the section Special Contexts: Window Displays, above; Rule 2.2.12(c)) and unaffixed or redundant on-site signs and displays evoking cannabis or cannabis products, or otherwise calling attention to the establishment for the purpose of attracting traffic and promoting sales, must comply with advertising requirements, including the audience-composition requirement and the mandatory health warning.

Sandwich Boards & Detached Signs

On-premises sandwich boards and detached signs are not advertising if purely directional. Purely directional means that a sandwich board displays no more than an establishment’s name, logo, address, hours, and a directional indicator. Sandwich boards with substantive promotional content, such as substantive taglines or information about products, events, or discounts, are advertisements and must comply with audience-composition and content requirements.

Foot Traffic Promotions

Retailers commonly undertake activities calculated to drive foot traffic to a store, based on the expectation that increased traffic will mean increased sales. Consequently, promotional activities such as giveaways of non-cannabis items and merchandise or inducements to visit to enter no-purchasenecessary prize drawings or raffles, are advertisements and must comply with audience-composition and content requirements.

Event Booths and Off-premises

Displays Promotional participation in event booths or displays, such as those at a farmer’s market, concert, or fair, are advertisements. Such displays must be approved based on audience-composition and content, and each must display the mandatory health warning.

Window Displays

Rule 2.2.12(c) provides that “window displays, or items, text, or objects inside a Cannabis Establishment that are visible to a person standing outside the establishment, will be considered an outdoor advertisement for the purposes of this rule.” More than 15% of Vermont's general population is under the age of 21. Unless a window display is approved based on a showing that its audience complies with composition requirements—for example, if the window can be seen only from an age-restricted area- cannabis products, pictures of cannabis or cannabis products, or advertisements in the store should not be visible to passers-by in a window display.

Vermont Billboard Law

Enacted in 1968 as a means of preserving the bucolic scenery that is so vital to Vermont's image and by extension the tourist dollars so vital to its economy, Vermont’s comprehensive sign law (Title 10, Chapter 21) bans all billboards from its landscape. This so-called "billboard law" interestingly enough does not once use the word “billboard,” but rather prohibits the erection or maintenance of any “outdoor advertising visible to the travelling public except as provided in this chapter.” 10 V.S.A. § 488 (emphasis added). “Outdoor advertising” is defined under the law as “a sign which advertises, calls attention or directs a person to a business, association, profession, commodity, product, institution, service, entertainment, person, place, thing, or activity of any kind whatsoever, and is visible from a highway or other public right-of-way.

‍

‍

‍

CBD State Legality - Conditionally legal

‍

The production and sales of hemp-derived synthetically-produced cannabinoids such as Delta-8 THC and Delta-10 THC is prohibited.

‍