2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 21a - Consumer Protection › Chapter 420h - Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis › Section 21a-421bb. - Prohibitions re advertisement of cannabis and cannabis products. Registration of cannabis brand names.

(a) Cannabis establishments and any person advertising any cannabis or services related to cannabis shall not:
(1) Advertise cannabis, cannabis paraphernalia or goods or services related to cannabis in ways that target or are designed to appeal to individuals under twenty-one years of age, including, but not limited to, spokespersons or celebrities who appeal to individuals under the legal age to purchase cannabis or cannabis products, depictions of a person under twenty-five years of age consuming cannabis, or, the inclusion of objects, such as toys, characters or cartoon characters suggesting the presence of a person under twenty-one years of age, or any other depiction designed in any manner to be appealing to a person under twenty-one years of age;
(2) Engage in advertising by means of television, radio, Internet, mobile applications, social media, or other electronic communication, billboard or other outdoor signage, or print publication unless the advertiser has reliable evidence that at least ninety per cent of the audience for the advertisement is reasonably expected to be twenty-one years of age or older;
(3) Engage in advertising or marketing directed toward location-based devices, including, but not limited to, cellular phones, unless the marketing is a mobile device application installed on the device by the owner of the device who is twenty-one years of age or older and includes a permanent and easy opt-out feature and warnings that the use of cannabis is restricted to persons twenty-one years of age or older;
(4) Advertise cannabis or cannabis products in a manner claiming or implying, or permit any employee of the cannabis establishment to claim or imply, that such products have curative or therapeutic effects, or that any other medical claim is true, or allow any employee to promote cannabis for a wellness purpose unless such claims are substantiated as set forth in regulations adopted under chapter 420f or verbally conveyed by a licensed pharmacist or other licensed medical practitioner in the course of business in, or while representing, a hybrid retail or dispensary facility;
(5) Sponsor charitable, sports, musical, artistic, cultural, social or other similar events or advertising at, or in connection with, such an event unless the sponsor or advertiser has reliable evidence that (A) not more than ten per cent of the in-person audience at the event is reasonably expected to be under the legal age to purchase cannabis or cannabis products, and (B) not more than ten per cent of the audience that will watch, listen or participate in the event is expected to be under the legal age to purchase cannabis products;
(6) Advertise cannabis, cannabis products or cannabis paraphernalia in any physical form visible to the public within five hundred feet of an elementary or secondary school ground, recreation center or facility, child care center, playground, public park or library;
(7) Cultivate cannabis or manufacture cannabis products for distribution outside of this state in violation of federal law, advertise in any way that encourages the transportation of cannabis across state lines or otherwise encourages illegal activity;
(8) Except for dispensary facilities and hybrid retailers, exhibit within or upon the outside of the facility used in the operation of a cannabis establishment, or include in any advertisement, the word “dispensary” or any variation of such term or any other words, displays or symbols indicating that such store, shop or place of business is a dispensary;
(9) Exhibit within or upon the outside of the premises subject to the cannabis establishment license, or include in any advertisement the words “drug store”, “pharmacy”, “apothecary”, “drug”, “drugs” or “medicine shop” or any combination of such terms or any other words, displays or symbols indicating that such store, shop or place of business is a pharmacy;
(10) Advertise on or in public or private vehicles or at bus stops, taxi stands, transportation waiting areas, train stations, airports or other similar transportation venues including, but not limited to, vinyl-wrapped vehicles or signs or logos on transportation vehicles not owned by a cannabis establishment;
(11) Display cannabis or cannabis products so as to be clearly visible to a person from the exterior of the facility used in the operation of a cannabis establishment, or display signs or other printed material advertising any brand or any kind of cannabis or cannabis product on the exterior of any facility used in the operation of a cannabis establishment;
(12) Utilize radio or loudspeaker, in a vehicle or in or outside of a facility used in the operation of a cannabis establishment, for the purposes of advertising the sale of cannabis or cannabis products; or
(13) Operate any web site advertising or depicting cannabis, cannabis products or cannabis paraphernalia unless such web site verifies that the entrants or users are twenty-one years of age or older.
(b) Any advertisements from a cannabis establishment shall contain the following warning: “Do not use cannabis if you are under twenty-one years of age. Keep cannabis out of the reach of children.” In a print or visual medium, such warning shall be conspicuous, easily legible and shall take up not less than ten per cent of the advertisement space. In an audio medium, such warning shall be at the same speed as the rest of the advertisement and be easily intelligible.
(c) The department shall not register, and may require revision of, any submitted or registered cannabis brand name that:
(1) Is identical to, or confusingly similar to, the name of an existing non-cannabis product;
(2) Is identical to, or confusingly similar to, the name of an unlawful product or substance;
(3) Is confusingly similar to the name of a previously approved cannabis brand name;
(4) Is obscene or indecent; and
(5) Is customarily associated with persons under the age of twenty-one.
(d) A violation of the provisions of subsection (a) or (b) of this section shall be deemed to be an unfair or deceptive trade practice under subsection (a) of section 42-110b.
(June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-1, S. 33.)
History: June Sp. Sess. P.A. 21-1 effective July 1, 2021.