Business
New Congressional Bill Wrongly Targets Cannabis As ‘High-Risk’ Industry For Online Scams (Op-Ed)
“Licensed cannabis operators aren’t the scam. They’re the safe, tested alternative.”
By Amy Deneson, Cannabis Media Council
A recently filed bipartisan bill in Congress would label cannabis advertising “high-risk.” The industry already has a better solution: self-regulations with high standards.
Congress is right to take on online scams. Fraudsters target older Americans on the same platforms they use to stay connected, and platforms should do more to stop them. The Cannabis Media Council shares that goal.
But the bipartisan SAFE Platforms Act (H.R. 10433) takes a wrong turn. It would designate cannabis a “high-risk” category alongside gambling and cryptocurrency, and require platforms to put cannabis advertisers through enhanced identity verification and periodic re-verification, including extra documentation and reviews of a company’s online presence and business history.
Licensed cannabis operators aren’t the scam. They’re the safe, tested alternative.
Seniors are increasingly choosing that alternative. Older adults are one of the fastest-growing groups of cannabis consumers: New York University researchers, publishing in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that current use among Americans 65 and older hit a record 7 percent in 2023, up nearly 46 percent in just two years.
The bill aims to protect seniors, but many of them are now the customers. Cutting off licensed advertising doesn’t shield them. It leaves them to sort out a confusing market without clear information about which products are legal and tested.
That’s why the Cannabis Media Council’s (CMC) award-winning campaign, “I’m High Right Now,” features elders: responsible advertising should reflect who today’s cannabis consumers actually are. And the new creative encourages them to “Buy Legal”—pointing curious consumers toward legitimate, licensed, tested products instead of relying on what friends are taking or the proverbial neighborhood “backpack guy.”
Consider who actually advertises legal cannabis. These are state-licensed businesses that check IDs at the door, test their products, track inventory and answer to regulators who can pull their licenses. A dispensary isn’t an anonymous offshore account. It has a street address, a license number, security systems and regular inspections.
The timing makes the bill’s approach especially counterproductive. In April, the federal government moved state-licensed medical cannabis to Schedule III. For the first time, medical operators have a federal path to reach patients through traditional channels. Labeling the whole category “high-risk” would narrow that path just as it opens.
The industry already lives with heavy marketing restrictions. In CMC’s 2026 Cannabis Advertising Investments and Sentiments Survey, 56 percent of marketers said a platform had shut down their account or canceled their ads, and 69 percent named restrictions as their top frustration. More friction won’t stop bad actors, who don’t hold licenses to begin with. It will burden the businesses playing by the rules, and push consumers toward the unregulated market—where no one checks ID or shares products tests conducted by third-party labs.
There’s a better model, and other age-restricted industries already use it. Alcohol has relied on voluntary advertising codes for decades, working alongside state law and platform policy. Cannabis can do the same, and it’s already started.
This month CMC released Edition IV of Full Spectrum: Guidelines for Responsible Cannabis Advertising. Since 2023, Full Spectrum has set an industry standard for paid cannabis advertising, used by brands, agencies and publishers across the country.
Its Seven Pillars for Responsible Advertising already ask advertisers to verify their licenses, target only adults and substantiate every claim. Edition IV goes further with the Cannabis Advertising Code, a set of core commitments, to establish a universal standard. We invite policymakers, regulators, operators, and publishers to review it and share feedback for national adoption.
Why self-regulation? Because it’s precise. A blanket “high-risk” label treats a licensed dispensary like an offshore gambling site. An industry code, shaped with input from compliant operators, accountable publishers and media platforms and official regulators, can spell out what responsible advertising looks like: who sees it, what it claims and how it portrays consumption. It can evolve as fast as the market does. And it gives advertising outlets something they’ve rarely had for cannabis: a clear benchmark for saying yes to the right advertisers.
Advertising is how adults learn which products are legal, which are tested and where the licensed operator nearest them is open to welcome them. For medical patients, that information is crucial for access and care. Shutting it down doesn’t make anyone safer. It hands the conversation to the illicit market and the misinformation that thrives there.
Our guidelines exist to inspire cannabis businesses to hold themselves to a high standard and advertise responsibly. Before H.R. 10433 moves forward, we urge lawmakers to recognize licensed operators that meet these high standards, rather than treating the entire category as a threat.
We share Congress’s goal in caring for our consumers, notably our elders. Let’s reach it without punishing the businesses that are part of the solution.
Amy Deneson is the executive director and co-founder of the Cannabis Media Council, a trade association leveraging the connective power of advertising to advocate for the normalization of cannabis. She has served as a marketing leader, bridging cannabis into the mainstream, for Curio Wellness, Vireo Health, Curaleaf and more in over 30 U.S. markets since 2016.
