Distributors have requested that the federal government heavily regulate recreational marijuana advertising. The requests include a ban on celebrity brand promotion, as well as stricter online marketing controls, prohibiting edibles, and to the extreme, a mandatory approval of all marijuana marketing at the recreational level by Canada’s Advertising Standards Council.
Ian Culbert, executive director with the Canadian Public Health Association, suggested that the preference of the CPHA is to completely ban marketing, but also notes that this type of restriction may not withstand a Supreme Court challenge, and would settle for advertising in adult-only restricted retail locations.
In New Brunswick, for example, part of the framework for rolling out legalization includes 20 storefronts controlled by NB Liquor. These stores will only display products under glass, no decoration or advertising such as store window displays that will be visible outside of the store. However, inside the store, they aim to offer a “pleasant shopping experience”. What that means remains to be seen, but offers rays of hope.
But it is interesting to note, as provincial frameworks are becoming more apparent now, that some of these distributors will be the provinces themselves! Perhaps this is a self-serving request? Who better to manage advertising regulation than another government run business? Privately run storefronts could pose a challenge in enforcement at the direct retail establishment level. And as such, definitely more convenient and cost-effective for provincially run distributors to police.
That being said, there are several LP’s that have aligned themselves with celebrity of one form or another, with more to come as recreational marijuana comes closer to legalization.
Organigram and Trailer Park Boys
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