OPINION: NAVIGATING THE STIGMAS, RULES AND TABOOS OF CANNABIS ADVERTISING

An unstoppable green wave, the global cannabis market is projected to reach $166 billion by 2025, Euromonitor International says. The marketing dollars attached will almost certainly be huge, but the associated challenges are impossible to ignore.

Living in Los Angeles one becomes somewhat numbed to the speed of change in this market. As I drive the five or so miles to my office each morning, I pass multiple billboards advertising cannabis delivery services, marijuana dispensaries and countless other associated businesses.

With recreational use already legal in 10 U.S. states and sanctioned medicinal use legalized in a total of 33, cannabis companies are quickly flooding the country. But as they look to market their brands—and products— they are met with one speed bump and roadblock after another. As advertisers, these are challenges we must be prepared to address.

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