Text your customers within Virginia’s cannabis advertising rules

Virginia has a medical-only cannabis program

Retail licensing and advertising rules are enforced by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. For billboards, social media and other channels, see our cannabis advertising rules beyond texting.

These Virginia rules bear on texting customers

Texts from a medical cannabis facility count as advertising that must reach an audience at least 85 percent aged 18 or older, name the facility, say products are for patients only, and avoid coupons, free products and promotional giveaways. Under state telemarketing law, a customer who replies STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE must not be texted again for at least 10 years.

• Adult-use retail sales are authorized but do not begin until July 1, 2027 (CCA news release, July 1, 2026 (House Bill 30, 2026 session)).
• Audience composition: at least 85 percent reasonably expected to be 18 or older (3VAC10-40-170 A).
• No coupons, free cannabis giveaways or branded merchandise beyond name and contact details (3VAC10-40-170 B 2).
• No advertising through free promotional items, gifts, or free or donated cannabis (3VAC10-40-170 G).
• Ads must name the facility and state that products are for patients only (3VAC10-40-190 A).
• Benefit, safety or efficacy claims need clinical support and must include side effects or risks (3VAC10-40-190 B).
• No marketing that is misleading, promotes excessive use, or appeals to people under 21 (3VAC10-40-160).
• Youth appeal ban covers cartoons, candy terms and similar content (3VAC10-40-160 4).
• No pop-up digital ads; product information and pricing may appear on the facility website (3VAC10-40-180 A and B).
• A customer who replies STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE to a marketing text must not be texted again for at least 10 years (Va. Code 59.1-514(A) (Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act, as amended 2025)).

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

Work with Sticky Cards in Virginia

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