Text your customers within Illinois’s cannabis advertising rules

Illinois has an adult-use and medical cannabis program

Retail licensing and advertising rules are enforced by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. For billboards, social media and other channels, see our cannabis advertising rules beyond texting.

These Illinois rules bear on texting customers

The Act also bars giveaways of cannabis as a sales promotion, and IDFPR rules prohibit collecting a purchaser's personal information from a transaction without the purchaser's consent.

• The Act defines advertising to include Internet and electronic media (410 ILCS 705/1-10).
• Advertising may not contain any statement or illustration that is false or misleading or that promotes overconsumption (410 ILCS 705/55-20(a)(1)-(2)).
• Advertising may not make health, medicinal or therapeutic claims (410 ILCS 705/55-20(a)(5)).
• Advertising may not depict actual consumption or include the image of a cannabis leaf or bud (410 ILCS 705/55-20(a)(3), (a)(6)).
• Advertising may not include images or phrases designed or likely to appeal to minors, including cartoons, toys, animals or children (410 ILCS 705/55-20(a)(7)).
• Sales promotions may not give away cannabis, run consumption-related games or competitions, or use promotional materials appealing to children (410 ILCS 705/55-20(d)).
• Dispensing organizations may not collect or store a purchaser's personal information from a transaction without consent, and personal information includes name, address, birthdate and email address (68 Ill. Adm. Code 1291.308).

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 Illinois’s rules apply to your program stays with you and your counsel.

Work with Sticky Cards in Illinois

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