New York City is a city of many aromas. Pizza. Garbage. Urine. And, in increasing frequency, an odor whose source has been more traditionally found in college dorms: marijuana smoke.
Storefronts selling cannabis products in the city have become nearly as ubiquitous as bodegas and pizza joints since the state legalized cannabis in 2021. But the overwhelming majority of them are operating without a license. That’s why Terp Bros, a licensed cannabis dispensary in Queens, champions its status as part of its pitch to consumers: “Buy Legal, Buy Safe,” reads the blue awning atop the shop.
“This is your alternative, your safe choice, in knowing what you’re smoking, in knowing what you’re consuming,” Jeremy Rivera, owner of Terp Bros, said. Later, he added, “I’m satisfied with knowing I’m able to provide the community with something it’s been longing for.”
On April 4, a New York State Supreme Court Justice issued a ruling voiding state rules prohibiting dispensaries from using third-party platforms such as Leafly to advertise and market their products.
“It’s impossible to overstate the importance of providing consumers with choices, and educational information when making purchasing decisions,” Leafly said in a statement to ABC News. “It is critically important that licensed-retailers have equal access to important advertising and marketing tools to help them succeed in a competitive landscape.”
But Rivera and the owners of the ~100 other licensed adult-use cannabis dispensaries in New York State still face limitations in how they can reach potential consumers, and there are channels and locations, like billboards, where they are not allowed to advertise at all.
Hey, big vendor!
The Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) has established suggestions for how vendors in New York and the other 23 states (plus the District of Columbia) where recreational cannabis is legal should look to advertise their wares (cannabis remains illegal at the federal level).
Advertisements should be at least 500 feet from schools and places of worship, per the OAAA, and false claims, depictions of cannabis consumption, and slang references to marijuana are strongly discouraged. Some licensed dispensaries in New York have turned to more creative ways to market adult-use cannabis, including through wild posting, which can be an effective way to reach consumers not conditioned to a legal cannabis market, Brian Rappaport, founder and CEO of the out-of-home advertising agency Quan Media Group, said.
“It’s so essentially new to mainstream America,” Rappaport said. “People don’t sell weed behind a school anymore.”
On behalf of Gotham, a licensed dispensary in Manhattan, Quan plastered posters across New York City, as well as advertising on digital LinkNYC kiosks. For Rebelle, a legal dispensary that’s located in the Berkshires, Quan postered around New York City and purchased ad space on kiosks in Boston.
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“There are so many different companies starting cannabis brands, there are so many different stores opening, it’s just an easy mass-awareness play,” Rappaport said. (Quan would not work with unlicensed shops, he said.)
Online confusion
In late February, New York Governor Kathy Hochul urged Google, Meta, and other digital platforms to refrain from promoting unlicensed cannabis shops—of which there were an estimated 1,500 in NYC alone as of September—on their platforms.
Hochul noted that a search on Google or Google Maps for “cannabis dispensaries” does not distinguish between legal dispensaries and unlicensed shops, and a Google Maps search for “cannabis dispensaries” conducted by Marketing Brew from Queens yielded a list including several shops that describe themselves as selling cannabis whose names were not listed among the state’s licensed sellers.
Google spokesperson Nate Funkhouser told Marketing Brew in a statement that the company prohibits cannabis ads in New York and removes them “upon detection, often before they ever run.” When it comes to Google Maps, there’s more gray area.
“We display places that people can visit or interact with in the real world by using a variety of sources, including third-party information and feedback from our community,” Funkhouser said. “If we can confirm that a business has closed for any reason—including license issues—we’ll reflect that it’s closed in the listing.”
Meta spokesperson Matthew Tye said in a statement that “we prohibit content—both in ads and organically on pages—that promotes the buying and selling of drugs, including marijuana, and remove it whenever we find it.”
Reality bites?
During his March 7 State of the Union speech, President Joe Biden said he would direct his cabinet “to review the federal classification of marijuana.” For now, however, there is no concrete timeline for legalization, and some other cannabis vendors are finding other ways to advertise their products.
A few blocks away from Terp Bros is another store that sells cannabis products: pre-rolled joints, loose marijuana plants, and more. A piece of paper that hangs from the ceiling reads “Certificate of Licensure” from the state’s “Office of Cannabis Management.”
The store does not appear in the state’s online database of licensed cannabis dispensaries, and New York’s Office of Cannabis Management confirmed to Marketing Brew that the shop is not a licensed dispensary. The certificate, it seems, is likely faked.
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