Text your customers within Alabama’s cannabis advertising rules

Alabama has a medical-only cannabis program

Retail licensing and advertising rules are enforced by the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission. For billboards, social media and other channels, see our cannabis advertising rules beyond texting.

These Alabama rules bear on texting customers

The rule prohibits any advertisement likely to reach or appeal to minors, and any marketing campaign or program, regardless of the medium, may not contain health, therapeutic, false or misleading statements.

• Ala. Admin. Code r. 538-X-4-.17(1) prohibits any advertisement that is likely to reach or appeal to minors, and defines advertisement broadly to include promotional and other marketing materials.
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 538-X-4-.17(3), (4) requires a licensee to submit any advertisement or other marketing campaign or program, with all related materials, to the Commission before using it; the Commission has 14 days to review and may require disclosures, require changes or prohibit the advertisement.
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 538-X-4-.17(5)(c) prohibits placing medical cannabis advertisements on radio or television broadcast, a definition that expressly includes social media and other internet-based platforms.
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 538-X-4-.17(6)(h)7 prohibits statements about the health or therapeutic benefits of cannabis, and statements about safety or efficacy unless supported by substantial clinical data, in any advertisement or marketing program regardless of medium.
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 538-X-4-.17(6)(h)1 prohibits false or misleading statements in any name, logo, sign, advertisement or marketing campaign or program, regardless of the medium.
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 538-X-4-.17(6)(a), (d) prohibits cartoon imagery, designs commonly used to target minors, and references to individuals whose audience is more than 15 percent minors.
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 538-X-4-.17(7) requires a licensee website to obtain each user's affirmation that the user is not a minor before granting access, and bars any web presence that targets a consumer group with a high likelihood of reaching or appealing to minors.
• The dispensary chapter applies the general licensee marketing and advertising rule to dispensaries (Ala. Admin. Code r. 538-X-8-.21).

Start with consent, your store name and an opt-out line

• Text only people who opted in, and keep the record of when and how they did. Our guide to SMS opt-in and consent for dispensaries covers what to record.
• Put your store name first and an opt-out line on every text.
• Keep product details, prices and offers on an age-gated page rather than in the text, and check the wording against our list of banned words in cannabis texts.

Sticky SMS, by Sticky Cards, the loyalty and marketing platform for cannabis dispensaries, files your 10DLC registration with The Campaign Registry, with no charge for the number or the registration, and most stores are live in 1 to 2 days. How Alabama’s rules apply to your program stays with you and your counsel.

Work with Sticky Cards in Alabama

• Run a dispensary, CBD or vape shop in Alabama? Book a demo to see Sticky SMS.
• Run a texting agency in Alabama? Sticky Cards is looking for expert texting partner agencies in Alabama. Email support@stickycards.co to talk about working together.