An adult-use marijuana retailer is suing the Vermont Cannabis Control Board over advertising regulations the company alleges are unconstitutional.
According to the Bennington Banner, Flora Cannabis in Middlebury said in a lawsuit filed Monday in the Addison Superior Court’s Civil Division that it wants to remove Vermont’s “unprecedented and unconstitutional restrictions on the protected free speech rights of the state’s 500-plus licensed cannabis cultivators, manufacturers, distributors and retailers.”
The Vermont Cannabis Control Board requires that all cannabis advertisements include a health warning and that no more than 15% of people potentially exposed to such ads are younger than 21.
Flora Cannabis’ complaint claims that those requirements are “unreasonable,” as are prohibitions on “common promotional offers” and “depicting or describing particular cannabis products on social media websites.”
Flora co-founder Dave Silberman said the company filed the complaint after years of trying to find a compromise with the state Legislature that would allow cannabis businesses to be treated the same as other “regulated vice” industries such as sports betting and alcohol.
“Vermont’s licensed cannabis industry supports reasonable advertising regulations, including targeted regulations to prevent advertising that is especially appealing to underage consumers or making false or misleading statements,” Silberman said in a statement to the Banner.
Advertising rules are becoming more of an issue for the regulated cannabis industry, though some courts have sided with state regulators.
In November, for example, a Mississippi appeals court ruled that medical cannabis businesses in that state don’t have the right to advertise on billboards or other places because marijuana is still illegal under federal law.
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