The US Congress is pushing new legislation that would classify cannabis advertising as “high-risk,” introducing fresh complications for the marijuana industry’s evolving legal status.
A bipartisan pair of lawmakers have introduced the Stopping Abuse and Fraud Enabled by Platforms Act, widely referred to as the SAFE Platforms Act, targeting online scams and fraudulent content.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) and Del. James Moylan (R-Guam), with a primary focus on protecting seniors and other vulnerable users from online fraud.
Buried within the legislation is a provision that places cannabis alongside tobacco and alcohol in a designated “high-risk category” of products requiring enhanced advertising verification.
Under the bill, known as H.R. 10433, online platforms would be required to adopt safety features to prevent the posting of fraudulent content across their services.
Advertisers operating in so-called “high-risk categories” would face additional requirements, including submitting documentation to validate their identity and business operations.
Platforms would also be required to conduct a review of advertisers’ online presence and business history before permitting cannabis-related promotions to appear.
Cannabis would share its high-risk designation with crypto, unregulated financial products, and gambling, while the FTC would gain standing authority to expand the list further by regulation.
The legislation arrives at a particularly sensitive moment, as Schedule III rescheduling was widely expected to clear the constitutional path for lawful cannabis advertising at the federal level.
For state-licensed medical marijuana operators, the bill raises an urgent question about whether this signals the type of regulatory environment they should expect as they step further into the legal mainstream.
The verification scheme is not a restriction on the content of cannabis advertisements, but rather a gatekeeping mechanism determining who is permitted to advertise in the first place.
Under the Central Hudson framework, once speech concerns lawful activity, the government can still regulate it if it has a substantial interest and the regulation directly advances that interest without being overly extensive.
Youth-protection-focused restrictions are among the category of rules considered most likely to survive First Amendment scrutiny, making age-gating and placement restrictions familiar territory for the industry.
The SAFE Platforms Act represents one of at least three separate pieces of federal legislation moving through Congress that single out cannabis advertising for additional regulatory scrutiny this year.
Critics within the marijuana industry may argue that layering these requirements on top of one another creates significant friction for legitimate, licensed operators trying to compete in a maturing market.