Massachusetts Cannabis Bulletin Keeps Online Discount Ads Prohibited

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission’s Investigations and Enforcement Department on September 25, 2026 issued a bulletin to all licensed Marijuana Establishments, clarifying that Chapter 65 of the Acts of 2026 did not extend advertising or discounting allowances to licensee websites or online menus, and that broadcasting a reduced or promotional price through an online menu remains prohibited advertising until further notice.

The department wrote that it issued the bulletin after the Commission received inquiries from licensees about changes to permitted advertising practices since the law’s enactment. Separately, according to the bulletin, the Commission was notified by various licensees with open advertising deficiencies that they would not remove identified deficiencies from their public-facing websites until all Marijuana Retailers comply, or because it was the licensees’ position that Chapter 65 amended permitted advertising activities related to websites and online menus.

The bulletin instructs licensees to ensure that all advertising and marketing practices taken by or on behalf of a licensee, including by a third party, comply with 935 CMR 500.105(4), the adult-use advertising regulation. It cites G.L. c. 94G, G.L. c. 94I, 935 CMR 500.00 and 935 CMR 501.000 as the governing statutory and regulatory framework.

What Chapter 65 Did and Did Not Change

Chapter 65 of the Acts of 2026, An Act Modernizing the Commonwealth’s Cannabis Laws, was approved April 19, 2026 as an emergency law; the original legislation was H.5350. Section 21 of the act amended G.L. c. 94G, § 4 by inserting the proviso that “the commission may permit advertising, marketing and branding of sales, discounts and customer loyalty programs within a marijuana establishment, or through an opt-in email list.”

According to the bulletin, that amendment gave the Commission the option of permitting limited advertising activities within a marijuana establishment, or through an opt-in email list, but it did not extend advertising or discounting allowances to licensee websites and did not substantially change compliance policy in the immediate term. Commission staff already assess advertising compliance based on how information is relayed to consumers, the bulletin notes, including whether a communication travels through opt-in forms or personalized channels such as newsletter or email lists that consumers sign up for and specifically request.

The bulletin reproduces 935 CMR 500.105(4)(b)20, which prohibits advertising through the marketing of free promotional items, including gifts, giveaways, discounts, points-based reward systems, customer loyalty programs, coupons, and free or donated marijuana, except as otherwise permitted by 935 CMR 500.105(4)(a)9 and except for Brand Name take-away bags provided by a Marijuana Establishment for the benefit of customers after a retail purchase is completed.

Under the definitions restated in the bulletin, advertising is a form of marketing communication that employs a sponsored, nonpersonal message to sell or promote a brand name, branded good, service, product or idea. An advertisement is a public communication used to attract customers or build brand loyalty, and it may be sponsored by the licensee itself or by a third party on the licensee’s behalf; non-personal messages directed to consumers who did not request the communication, and that do not allow an opt-out, are also advertisements. A communication becomes personalized, rather than advertising, when a consumer specifically requests to receive information from a licensee or is provided information personally after entering a Marijuana Establishment. Minimal interaction does not qualify: verifying that a visitor is over 21 years old through a website age gate, or segregating discounts into a separate portion of a licensee’s website where consumers attest to accessing the price list, does not make a communication personalized, the bulletin states.

Enforcement Posture and Remaining Allowances

“Until further notice, when a Licensee broadcasts a reduced or promotional price through its online menus it is engaging in advertising,” the bulletin states. Commission staff have cited, and will continue to cite, licensees for using what the bulletin calls prohibitive verbiage or actions, including Sale, Discount, Special, Promos/Promotional Offer, Special offer, X% off, showing strike-through of higher prices next to a new price, and Buy X get X free. Using different terms that have the same effect, advertising a discount, does not shield a licensee from receiving a citation, the department wrote.

Licensees may still adjust or update the prices of marijuana and marijuana products available for sale, and those prices may be reflected on a price list or on the licensee’s website under 935 CMR 500.105(4)(a)6, according to the bulletin. Licensees may also offer purchase programs or bundled pricing, so long as the offer is not communicated in a way that markets marijuana or marijuana products as free, discounted or promotional.

The medical marijuana regulations at 935 CMR 501.000 do not prohibit Medical Marijuana Establishments from advertising discounts, sales, coupons or other price reductions for medical marijuana and marijuana products offered to patients, the bulletin states. It defines Colocated Marijuana Operations as a Medical Marijuana Establishment operating under a 935 CMR 501.000 license and a Marijuana Establishment operating under at least one adult-use license under 935 CMR 500.000 on the same premises, a category pertaining to cultivation, product manufacturing and retail licenses but not any other adult-use license type. Colocated operations may likewise advertise discounts and sales on medical marijuana and marijuana products offered to patients for retail sale, but they must take necessary steps to ensure that any advertised or marketed discount, sale or other reduction in price is clearly indicated as applying only to medical products intended for patients and not as being offered to adult-use consumers.

The bulletin also reminds the industry that policy discussions do not become practice until and if they are promulgated through regulation, and that proposed changes to topics including testing, licensing processes and agent registration remain as currently promulgated until replaced by new regulations. Violations of state marijuana law, including engaging in prohibited advertising activities, may result in the issuance of fines or up to suspension or revocation of a license under 935 CMR 500.450(3) and (13) and 935 CMR 501.450(3) and (13), the bulletin states.

On September 16, 2026, the Commission announced a series of public meetings beginning September 17, 2026 to undertake what it described as one of the largest efforts to modernize cannabis regulations in Commission history, with cannabis testing protocols, medical marijuana licensing and registered agent training among the topics. The new regulatory round is the third of 2026, following the extension of delivery license exclusivity in March and emergency regulations promulgated in September increasing retail ownership caps, as required by Chapter 65; the release also states that Chapter 65 ended the vertical integration requirement for medical marijuana establishments. Advertising, marketing and loyalty program rules are on the agenda for meetings scheduled through the end of 2026, and Commissioners plan to vote on three sets of draft regulations at a public meeting in December, followed by a public comment period, a public hearing in early 2027 and a final vote in March, according to the release.

Section 65 of Chapter 65 separately requires the Commission to promulgate or amend regulations as necessary to be consistent with the act not later than one year after the act’s effective date.