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.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altman, D. G., Schooler, C., & Basil, M. D. (1991). Alcohol and cigarette advertising on billboards. Health Education Research, 6(4), 487–490.
Altman, D. G., Levine, D. W., Coeytaux, R., Slade, J., & Jaffe, R. (1996). Tobacco promotion and susceptibility to tobacco use among adolescents aged 12 through 17 years in a nationally representative sample. American Journal of Public Health, 86, 1590–1593.
Alvaro, E. M., Crano, W. D., Siegel, J. T., Hohman, Z., Johnson, I., & Nakawaki, B. (2013). Adolescents’ attitudes toward antimarijuana ads, usage intentions, and actual marijuana usage. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27(4), 1027–1035.
Anderson, P., de Bruijn, A., Angus, K., Gordon, R., & Hastings, G. (2009). Impact of alcohol advertising and media exposure on adolescent alcohol use: A systematic review of longitudinal studies. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 44(3), 229–243.
Babor, T. B. K., Jernigan, D., & Tumwesigye, N. (2013). Statement of concern: The International Public Health Community responds to the Global Alcohol Producers’ attempts to implement the WHO Global Strategy on the harmful use of alcohol. London: Global Alcohol Policy Alliance Retrived from http://globalgapa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WHO-Statement-of-Concern-2013.pdf.
Batalla, A., Bhattacharyya, S., Yücel, M., Fusar-Poli, P., Crippa, J. A., Nogué, S., et al. (2013). Structural and functional imaging studies in chronic cannabis users: A systematic review of adolescent and adult findings. PLoS One, 8, e55821.
Bierut, T., Krauss, M. J., Sowles, S. J., & Cavazos-Rehg, P. A. (2017). Exploring marijuana advertising on Weedmaps, a popular online directory. Prevention Science, 18, 183–192.
Brown-Johnson, C. G., England, L. J., Glantz, S. A., & Ling, P. M. (2014). Tobacco industry marketing to low socioeconomic status women in the USA. Tobacco Control, 23, e139-e146.
Cavazos-Rehg, P. A., Krauss, M. J., Sowles, S. J., Murphy, G. M., & Bierut, L. J. (2017). Exposure to and content of marijuana product reviews. Prevention Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-017-0818-9.
Colorado Department of Revenue. (2013). Permanent rules related to the Colorado Retail Marijuana Code. Marijuana Enforcement Division (1 CCR 212–2). Retrived from https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/Retail%20Marijuana%20Rules,%20Adopted%20090913,%20Effective%20101513%5B1%5D_0.pdf
D’Amico, E. J., Miles, J. V., & Tucker, J. S. (2015). Gateway to curiosity: Medical marijuana ads and intention and use during middle school. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 29, 613–619.
Feeney, K. E., & Kampman, K. M. (2016). Adverse effects of marijuana use. The Linacre Quarterly, 83, 174–178.
Graneheim, U. H., & Lundman, B. (2004). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: Concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Education Today, 24(2), 105–112.
Grier, S. A., & Kumanyika, S. (2010). Targeted marketing and public health. Annual Review of Public Health, 31, 349–369.
Grube, J. W. (2004). Alcohol in the media: Drinking portrayals, alcohol advertising, and alcohol consumption among youth. In: Committee on Developing a Strategy to Reduce and Prevent Underage Drinking, R. J. Bonnie & M. E. O'Connell (Eds.), Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility. National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Hall, W., & Degenhardt, L. (2014). The adverse health effects of chronic cannabis use. Drug Testing and Analysis, 6, 39–45.
Harris, P., Taylor, R., Thielke, R., Payne, J., Gonzalez, N., Conde, J., et al. (2009). Research electronic data capture (REDCap)—a metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 42, 377–381.
Hirono, K. T., & Smith, K. E. (2017). Australia’s $40 per pack cigarette tax plans: The need to consider equity. Tobacco Control.
Jenssen, B. P., Klein, J. D., Salazar, L. F., Daluga, N. A., & Diclemente, R. J. (2009). Exposure to tobacco on the internet: Content analysis of adolescents’ internet use. Pediatrics, 124(2), e180-e186.
Jones, S. C., Thom, J. A., Davoren, S., & Barrie, L. (2014). Internet filters and entry pages do not protect children from online alcohol marketing. J Public Health Pol., 35, 75–90.
Kaplan, S. (2017). F.D.A. warns companies against claims that marijuana cures disease. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/health/fda-marijuana-false- claims.html
Krauss, M. J., Sowles, S. J., Sehi, A., Spitznagel, E. L., Berg, C. J., Bierut, L. J., & Cavazos-Rehg, P. A. (2017). Marijuana advertising exposure among current marijuana users in the U.S. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 174, 192–200.
Kuo, M., Wechsler, H., Greenberg, P., & Lee, H. (2003). The marketing of alcohol to college students: The role of low prices and special promotions. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 25(3), 204–211.
Leafly (2017a). About us. Retrieved from https://www.leafly.com/company/about. Accessed on December 20, 2017.
Leafly (2017b). Marijuana dispensaries. https://www.leafly.com/finder. Accessed on April 27, 2017.
Leafly Staff (2017). State-by-state guide to cannabis advertising regulations. https://www.leafly.com/news/industry/state-by-state-guide-to-cannabis-advertising-regulations/. Accessed on April 27, 2017.
McClure, A. C., Dal Cin, S., Gibson, J., & Sargent, J. D. (2006). Ownership of alcohol-branded merchandise and initiation of teen drinking. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30(4), 277–283.
Nash, V., O'Connell, R., Zevenbergen, B., & Mishkin, A. (2012). Effective age verification techniques: Lessons to be learnt from the online gambling industry. doi:https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2658038.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). The health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids: The current state of evidence and recommendations for research. National Academies Press.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2017). Marijuana. https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana. Accessed on April 27, 2017.
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws 2016. State Info. http://norml.org/states. Accessed on June 8, 2016.
New York State Department of Health. (2014). Medical marijuana program regulations. Retrived from: https://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/medical_marijuana/docs/regulations.pdf
Ribisl, K. M., Kim, A. E., & Williams, R. S. (2001). Web sites selling cigarettes: How many are there in the USA and what are their sales practices? Tobacco Control, 10(4), 352–359.
Ribisl, K. M., Williams, R. S., & Kim, A. E. (2003). Internet sales of cigarettes to minors. JAMA, 290(10), 1356–1359.
Smith, L., & Foxcroft, D. (2009). The effect of alcohol advertising, marketing and portrayal on drinking behaviour in young people: Systematic review of prospective cohort studies. BMC Public Health, 9(1), 51.
US Department of Health and Human Services. (2012). Preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults: A report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 3.
Volkow, N. D., Baler, R. D., Compton, W. M., & Weiss, S. R. (2014). Adverse health effects of marijuana use. The New England Journal of Medicine, 370, 2219–2227.
Washington State Legislature. (2013). Advertising. [WAC 314-55-155]. Retrieved from: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=314-55-155
Whiting, P. F., Wolff, R. F., Deshpande, S., Di Nisio, M., Duffy, S., Hernandez, A. V., et al. (2015). Cannabinoids for medical use: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA, 313(24), 2456–2473.
Williams, R. S., & Schmidt, A. (2014). The sales and marketing practices of English-language internet alcohol vendors. Addiction, 109(3), 432–439.
Williams, R. S., Derrick, J., & Ribisl, K. M. (2015). Electronic cigarette sales to minors via the internet. JAMA Pediatrics, 169, e1563.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Marisel Ponton for her assistance in coding the marijuana dispensary websites.
Funding
This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers R01DA032843 (PCR), R01DA039455 (PCR)].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
One of the authors, Dr. Bierut, is listed as an inventor on Issued U.S. Patent 8, 080, 371, “Markers for Addiction,” covering the use of certain SNPs in determining the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of addiction. All other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Ethical Approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Informed Consent
Not applicable. This study did not involve human participants.
Electronic Supplementary Material
ESM 1
(DOCX 97 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cavazos-Rehg, P.A., Krauss, M.J., Cahn, E. et al. Marijuana Promotion Online: an Investigation of Dispensary Practices. Prev Sci 20, 280–290 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0889-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0889-2