Twitter Allows Cannabis Companies To Advertise Brands And Products In The US

Twitter has started allowing ads for cannabis products. (photo: twitter @AdsAPI)

JAKARTA - Twitter is the first social media platform to allow cannabis companies to market their brands and products in the United States.

The platform previously only allowed ads for hemp-derived CBD topical products, while other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok follow a “no cannabis advertising” policy because cannabis is still illegal at the federal level.

There are now more and more states in the United States that allow the sale of recreational cannabis, with 21 states already joining.

Twitter said it would allow cannabis companies to advertise, as long as they have the proper license, through Twitter's approval process, and only target jurisdictions in which they are licensed to operate and most importantly, not target people under the age of 21.

"This is a pretty big win for legal cannabis marketers," said multinational medical cannabis and cannabis company Cresco Labs.

Most cannabis companies immediately adopted the changes suggested by Twitter. Trulieve Cannabis Corp even launched a multi-country campaign on the platform on Wednesday, 15 February.

"This change reflects growing acceptance of cannabis as a general health category, and we hope it will be an impetus for other social media platforms to follow in its footsteps," said Kate Lynch of Curaleaf, the largest cannabis company operating in the United States.

After enjoying increased sales during the early stages of the pandemic, the US cannabis industry is showing signs of slowing in the face of regulatory and economic challenges, including falling prices and an illegal market that is ripping off customers.

Curaleaf recently reduced its workforce by 10% and exited most of its operations in three US states.