Twitter Further Relaxes Cannabis Advertising Rules To Attract More Companies

Twitter, under billionaire Elon Musk's leadership, became one of the first major companies to allow cannabis advertisements, as per a press release by the microblogging site. The company has modified its regulations on the types of ads that cannabis companies in the United States can post on the site, two months after it first accepted them as paying customers.

As per a report in Wall Street Journal, companies selling the product can now display packaged cannabis items in their advertisements. They could previously advertise their businesses and link them to websites, but were not allowed to show the actual products they offered. It is to be noted that the new rules follow Twitter's recent sales approach of working closely with cannabis companies, many of which have commended the microblogging site's attentiveness but oppose the lengthy, rigorous and ambiguous ad-buying process.

The company further added that in the US, which is the "most influential" market for cannabis, the conversation surrounding it is far greater than any other topic. "As the cannabis industry has expanded, so too has the conversation on Twitter. In the US - one of the most influential markets for cannabis - it is larger than the conversation around topics such as pets, cooking, and golf, as well as food and beverage categories including fast food, coffee and liquor."

"Going forward, Twitter is allowing advertisers to promote brand preference and informational cannabis-related content for CBD, THC, and cannabis-related products and services," it stated. 

Earlier in February, Twitter had allowed advertisers to promote cannabis-related content for CBD, THC, and cannabis-related products and services. Talking about it, Alexa Alianiello, from Twitter Sales and Partnerships, said: "This was the largest step forward by any social media platform to create more opportunities for responsible cannabis marketing."

The cannabis community asked. We listened, and updated our ads policy:
- Packaged product in ads ✅
- Medical legal markets ✅
- Additional recreational legal markets ✅

We keep it rolling 🔥https://t.co/cNnZNU3h8i

— Alexa Alianiello (@lexa) April 25, 2023

She continued, "Going forward, certified advertisers may feature packaged cannabis products in ad creative. They may also continue responsibly linking to their owned and operated web pages and e-commerce experiences for CBD, THC, and cannabis-related products and services. We have also made some changes for medical licensees and opened up additional recreational markets (some restrictions apply)."