Marijuana Promotion Online: an Investigation of Dispensary Practices

Abstract

Marijuana product advertising will become more common, as the use of medical and/or recreational marijuana becomes increasingly legal in the USA. In this study, we investigate the marketing tactics being used on marijuana dispensary websites in the USA that could influence substance use behaviors. One hundred dispensary websites were randomly selected from 10 states that allowed the legal use of medical or recreational marijuana and had at least 10 operational dispensaries. Three dispensaries were excluded due to non-functioning websites, leaving a sample of 97 dispensaries. Content analysis was conducted on these dispensaries' websites, with the primary areas of focus including website age verification, marijuana effects, warnings, and promotional tactics. Among the 97 dispensaries, 75% did not include age verification. Roughly 30% offered online ordering and 21% offered delivery services. Sixty-seven percent made health claims pertaining to medical conditions that could be treated by their marijuana products, with moderate or conclusive evidence to support their claims. Less than half of the dispensaries (45%) advised consumers of possible side effects, and only 18% included warnings about contraindications. Nearly half (44%) offered reduced prices or coupons, 19% offered "buy one get one free" offers, and 16% provided giveaways or free samples. Our findings indicate that marijuana dispensary websites are easily accessible to youth. In addition, only a small amount of the websites advised consumers about possible side effects or contraindications. This study suggests the need for surveillance of marijuana commercialization and online advertising especially in the context of state policy reforms.

Mapping cannabis potency in medical and recreational programs in the United States

“…chemotypes/products across 653 dispensaries [27]. Therefore, our results are likely a fair representation of the potency of online products offered in dispensaries across the U.S.…”

“…In addition, 70% of all dispensary staff reported that a lack of knowledge served as a barrier to making a medical recommendation [50]. This trend is exacerbated by the fact that less than half of dispensaries across the country advise patients of potential side effects and even fewer warn of potential contraindications, while many promote ill-supported medical benefits [27].…”

“…Thus, the concentration of THC and CBD seems to contribute to the overall psychotropic and therapeutic effects patients experience. Even though a recent article has described some aspects of U.S. dispensaries' online practices and information about cannabis [27], thus far there are no reports on the strength of cannabis products offered in legal medical cannabis programs across the United States (U.S.), and how this compares to recreational programs. The clinical relevance of such information relies on the fact that this information could be considered safe by patients, which may strongly influence their attitude towards cannabis as medicine [9].…”

Marijuana Use among Adolescents and Emerging Adults in the Midst of Policy Change: Introduction to the Special Issue

“…In states with MMLs or RMLs, the presence of dispensaries or retail outlets and how marijuana is marketed represent additional contextual factors that can influence marijuana use among adolescent and emerging adults. Cavazos-Rehg et al (2019), in this issue, examined online promotion of marijuana by randomly selecting 100 dispensaries from 10 states that had RMLs or MMLs and that also had at least 10 operational dispensaries. Their work showed that 75% of the sites for dispensaries did not require age verification to view their website and that 67% included unwarranted claims about health effects of marijuana.…”

“…With this special issue, we seek to advance prevention science research on marijuana use among adolescents and emerging adults. The 10 original articles in this issue describe patterns of use among young people and provide new information about associated risk and protective factors at multiple ecological levels (Brooks-Russell et al 2019;Cavazos-Rehg et al 2019;Fairman et al 2019;Guttmannova et al 2019a;Johnson et al 2019;Mauro et al 2019;Nguyen et al 2019;Reboussin et al 2019;Thompson et al 2019;Wen et al 2019). An additional commentary describes the importance of using existing data to characterize the epidemiology of marijuana use in response to state laws (Guttmannova et al 2019b).…”