New York State Advertising Regulations
The State of New York’s medical marihuana marketing and advertising regulations require the approval of the commissioner prior to an advertisement of a medical marihuana product.
Medical marihuana marketing and advertising by registered organizations may not advertise medical marihuana brand names or utilize graphics related to marihuana or paraphernalia on the exterior of the physical structures.
All advertisements, regardless of form, that make a statement relating to effectiveness, side effects, consequences, and contraindications shall present a true and accurate statement of such information.
An advertisement for any approved medical marihuana product shall not contain any statement, design, representation, picture, or illustration related to the safety or efficacy of marihuana unless supported by substantial evidence or substantial clinical data.
An advertisement is false, lacking in fair balance, or other misleading if it uses a quote or paraphrase out of context or without citing conflicting information from the same source, to convey a false or misleading idea.
An advertisement does not satisfy the requirement that is presents a “true and accurate statement” of information relating to effectiveness, side effects, consequences, and contraindications if it fails to present a fair balance between information relating to effectiveness is presented in greater scope, depth, or detail than is the information relating to side effects, consequences and contraindications, taking into account all implementing factors such as typography, layout, contrast, headlines, paragraphing, white space, and any other techniques apt to achieve emphasis.
An advertisement for any approved medical marihuana product shall not contain any statement, design, or representation, picture or illustration that encourages or represents the recreational use of marihuana.
An advertisement for any approved medical marihuana product shall not contain any statement that falsely disparages a competitor’s products.
Other provisions related to digital advertising
An advertisement is false, lacking in fair balance, or other misleading if it fails to provide adequate emphasis for the fact that two or more facing pages are part of the same advertisement when only one page contains information relating to side effects, consequences and contraindications.
An advertisement for any approved medical marihuana product shall not contain any statement, design, or representation, picture or illustration that is obscene or indecent.
Any advertisement for an approved medical marihuana product shall be submitted to the department at least 30 business days prior to the public dissemination of the advertisement.
A registered organization, its officers, managers and employees shall not cooperate, directly or indirectly, in any advertising if such advertising has the purpose or effect of steering or influencing patient or caregiver choice with regard to the selection of a practitioner, or approved medical.
False or misleading information in any part of the advertisement shall not be corrected by the inclusion of a true statement in another distinct part of the advertisement.
The submitter of the advertisement shall provide the following information to the department in addition to the advertisement itself an annotated summary of the proposed advertisement showing every claim being made in the advertisement and which references support for each claim.
An advertisement is false, lacking in fair balance, or other misleading if it contains a representation or suggestion that one marihuana brand or form is better, more effective, useful in a broader range of conditions or patients or safer than other drugs or treatments including other marihuana brands or forms, unless such a claim has been demonstrated by substantial scientific or clinical experience.
An advertisement for any approved medical marihuana product shall not contain any statement, design, or representation, picture or illustration that encourages or represents the use of marihuana for a condition other than a serious condition as defined in subdivision seven of section thirty-three hundred sixty of the public health law.
The department may require that changes be made to the advertisement that are
(i) necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare; or
(ii) consistent with dispensing information for the product under review.
An advertisement for any approved medical marihuana product shall not contain any statement that indicates or implies that the product or entity in the advertisement has been approved or endorsed by the commissioner, department, New York State or any person or entity associated with New York State provided that this shall not preclude a factual statement that an entity is a registered organization.
A registered organization, its officers, managers and employees shall not cooperate, directly or indirectly, in any advertising if such advertising has the purpose or effect of steering or influencing patient or caregiver choice with regard to the selection of a practitioner, or approved medical marihuana product.
The submitter of the advertisement shall provide the following information to the department in addition to the advertisement itself verification that an official translation of a foreign language advertisement is accurate.
An advertisement is false, lacking in fair balance, or other misleading if it contains favorable information or conclusions from a study that is inadequate in design, scope, or conduct to furnish significant support for such information or conclusions.
The submitter of the advertisement shall provide the following information to the department in addition to the advertisement itself annotated references to support disease or epidemiology information, cross-referenced to the advertisement summary.
The submitter of the advertisement shall provide the following information to the department in addition to the advertisement itself a final copy of the advertisement, including a video where applicable, in a format acceptable to the department.
No advertisement may be disseminated if the submitter of the advertisement has received information that has not been widely publicized in medical literature that the use of any approved medical marihuana product may cause fatalities or serious damage to a patient.
The submitter of the advertisement shall provide the following information to the department in addition to the advertisement itself verification that a spokesperson who is represented as an actual patient is indeed an actual patient.
The department may require a specific disclosure be made in the advertisement in a clear and conspicuous manner if the department determines that the advertisement would be false or misleading without such a disclosure.
An advertisement is false, lacking in fair balance, or other misleading if it uses a study on persons without a debilitating medical condition without disclosing that the subjects were not suffering from a debilitating medical condition.
The submitter of the advertisement shall provide the following information to the department in addition to the advertisement itself a final copy of the advertisement, including a video where applicable, in a format acceptable to the department.
An advertisement is false, lacking in fair balance, or other misleading if it contains favorable information or opinions about marihuana product previously regarded as valid but which have been rendered invalid by contrary and more credible recent information.
An advertisement for any approved medical marihuana product shall not contain any offer of a prize, award or inducement to a certified patient, designated caregiver or practitioner related to the purchase of marihuana or a certification for the use of marihuana
The department may require a specific disclosure be made in the advertisement in a clear and conspicuous manner if the department determines that the advertisement would be false or misleading without such a disclosure.
An advertisement is false, lacking in fair balance, or other misleading if it contains favorable information or conclusions from a study that is inadequate in design, scope, or conduct to furnish significant support for such information or conclusions.
The submitter of the advertisement shall provide the following information to the department in addition to the advertisement itself annotated references to support disease or epidemiology information, cross-referenced to the advertisement summary.
The submitter of the advertisement shall provide the following information to the department in addition to the advertisement itself verification that a spokesperson who is represented as an actual patient is indeed an actual patient.
An advertisement is false, lacking in fair balance, or other misleading if it uses a study on persons without a debilitating medical condition without disclosing that the subjects were not suffering from a debilitating medical condition.
No advertisement may be disseminated if the submitter of the advertisement has received information that has not been widely publicized in medical literature that the use of any approved medical marihuana product may cause fatalities or serious damage to a patient.
The submitter of the advertisement shall provide the following information to the department in addition to the advertisement itself (1) a cover letter that: (i) provides the following subject line: Medical marihuana advertisement review package for a proposed advertisement; (ii) provides a brief description of the format and expected distribution of the proposed advertisement; and (iii) provides the submitter’s name, title, address, telephone number, fax number, and email address.
The submitter of the advertisement shall provide the following information to the department in addition to the advertisement itself verification that a person identified in an advertisement as an actual patient or health care practitioner is an actual patient or health care practitioner and not a model or actor.
The department may (1) require a specific disclosure be made in the advertisement in a clear and conspicuous manner if the department determines that the advertisement would be false or misleading without such a disclosure; or (2) require that changes be made to the advertisement that are: (i) necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare; or (ii) consistent with dispensing information for the product under review.
An advertisement for any approved medical marihuana product shall not contain any statement that is false or misleading.
An advertisement is false, lacking in fair balance, or other misleading if it uses data favorable to a marihuana product derived from patients treated with a different product or dosages different from those recommended in New York State.
An advertisement for any approved medical marihuana product shall not contain any statement, design, or representation, picture or illustration portraying anyone under the age of 18, objects suggestive of the presence of anyone under the age of 18, or containing the use of a figure, symbol or language that is customarily associated with anyone under the age of 18.