Colorado Cannabis Advertising Laws and the 71.6 Percent Rule

The Marijuana Enforcement Division, part of the Colorado Department of Revenue, licenses and regulates both the medical and the retail marijuana industries in the state. Its rulebook is 1 CCR 212-3, and the Secretary of State's copy of the marijuana rules lists the entire rule as effective January 5, 2026.

One definition shapes everything below. The rules treat Advertising as paid communication meant to induce patronage or purchase, and the definition leaves out packaging and labeling, Consumer Education Materials, and Branding. Branding gets a rule of its own instead, which is why it shows up separately in the under-21 section.

Other states write these limits differently, and our state-by-state guide to cannabis advertising laws lays them side by side.

Sponsorship itself is allowed. The audience test attaches to advertising at the event or in connection with it, and it counts both the people at the event and the people viewing advertising tied to it.

This rule names its standard of proof, "reliable evidence," where the media rule speaks only of what is reasonably expected. A sponsor that cannot document the event audience's age has the sponsorship but not the advertising.

Rule 3-740 reaches every form of advertising and signage a retail business uses, and cartoon characters are named as an example, not as the whole list. Rule 3-715 covers the gap the definition leaves open: because Branding sits outside the definition of Advertising, brand assets are judged under their own rule.

On a website, these are the rules that reach design choices: illustration style, character art and the brand mark itself.

The 500-foot buffer is qualified. The schools have to be established and conspicuously identified, and the protected list is elementary and secondary schools, places of worship and public playgrounds. A sign that clears the state buffer still has to satisfy the local sign code and the state Outdoor Advertising Act.

Rule 3-745 bars advertising through location-based devices, with one exception written into the rule: a mobile app the adult owner installed on the device, carrying an opt-out that is permanent and easy to use. Its age line is 21 for both medical and retail marijuana.

The pop-up and deceptive-advertising rules are written for a Regulated Marijuana Business, the rules' broader term, and the concentrate notice covers both medical and retail concentrate.

For the concentrate notice, the rule hands the wording to MED. Rule 3-705 requires the notice "as determined by the Division" and does not print the text, so get the current notice from MED instead of copying a version from another business's ad.

The rules are specific about media, audiences and claims. They are silent on several topics operators ask about, and silence is not the same as permission. Confirm each of these with MED before acting on it.

• Giveaways, discounts and loyalty programs. No promotion rule appears among the advertising rules.
• Social media. No social-specific rule appears. Social ads fall under the internet audience test and the deceptive-advertising rule in Rule 3-705, and this page covers social only through those two.
• Audience-age evidence. The media rule says "reasonably expected" but does not say what audience-age data MED accepts.
• Plain testing statements. The safety rules do not address a statement that a product was tested when no safety claim is attached.
• Promotional modals. The pop-up rule does not say whether a modal on the dispensary's own site counts as unsolicited pop-up advertising.
• Unpaid pages. The definition of Advertising is built around paid communication, and the rules do not say how MED treats a dispensary's own organic pages.
• Website age gates and warning text. The rules do not state a website age-gate requirement or print warning wording for a site.
• Medical businesses. The audience, sponsorship and under-21 content rules are written for a Retail Marijuana Business, and the text does not say how they apply to a medical marijuana business.

Written by Mark Wallace, Co-Founder & Chief Growth Architect at Bud Authority, from the 1 CCR 212-3 rule text as retrieved on 2026-10-13.