Proposed rules making advertising adult-use marijuana tricky for Ohio dispensaries

DAYTON — Ohio lawmakers have been discussing how to regulate adult-use recreational marijuana and how to advertise it.

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Adult-use recreational marijuana has been sold legally in Ohio for more than a month. Since then, state lawmakers have been finalizing guidelines for advertising it and they’re more restrictive than those in other states.

Tracey McMillan, Chief Operating Officer of Pure Ohio Wellness, said they still can’t put signs up anywhere other than their property.

“We can’t put up billboards. You can’t hand out leaflets,” McMillan said.

She said that trying to advertise her store legally has been tricky.

“We’ve increased our social media posts somewhat, McMillan said. “Changed a few words on Google to try and be picked up that way. Otherwise, there’s really not a lot you can do.”

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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:30, Ohio’s cannabis advertising rules restrict public advertising in an effort to keep ads from targeting children.

“I kind of see the point in restricting that for ads, especially for children and other stuff like that and influencing the wrong people, but then you’ve got freedom of speech,” Elissa Ward, of Beavercreek, said.

McMillan told News Center 7′s Mason Fletcher that Pure Ohio played it cautious thus far and would rather be safe than sorry.

“They had high expectations for us following the rules,” she said. “And clearly, they did because of the fines that they’ve imposed on the companies that didn’t.”

Several fines have been handed out by the Division of Cannabis Control. They gave out six fines, five of which were for $12,500. One was because a dispensary said “recreational marijuana” instead of “adult-use marijuana” in an email to customers.

The largest fine totaled $150,000 because a dispensary gave out free ice cream from a truck in their parking lot on their opening day.

McMillan said the fines can hurt a dispensary, which is why they’ve played it safe.

“It can cost you when it comes time for bond reductions and things like that,” she said. “So yeah, it’s a big deal.”

McMillan said she expects these laws to become more flexible as time passes.

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