Maryland cannabis advertising rules after the August 2026 update

Per MCA's guidance, a cannabis advertisement may not be placed on television, radio, internet, mobile application, social media, or other electronic communication or print publication "unless at least 85% of the audience is reasonably expected to be at least 21 years old."

Licensees carry the burden here. They must demonstrate the 85 percent figure "with recent and readily available data," and MCA may require a licensee to submit that audience data, so each placement needs its audience report on file before the ad runs.

The guidance adds: "Blogs, websites, and third-party platforms may not be used to avoid audience composition requirements." For context only, Colorado and California set their audience bars at 71.6 percent, so a media plan copied from either market can clear there and still fail in Maryland.

Any cannabis-related website in Maryland must use "a neutral age-screening mechanism that verifies a user as at least 21 years old" before a visitor can view content and before the site collects personal information. MCA then defines neutral: it is one that "requires a person to enter their date of birth in order to gain access to the website."

The guidance names three builds that do not qualify:

1. 1A screen that prompts the visitor to click "yes" or "no" to say they are 21 or older.
2. 2A screen that "retains browser cookies to bypass age verification on future visits."
3. 3AI or other data sources that estimate age without the visitor entering a date of birth.

Under the cookie line, an age gate that sets a "verified" cookie so a returning visitor skips the question fails the definition, even when the first visit asked for a date of birth. Forms fall under the same clause: an email signup or contact form that loads before the date-of-birth screen collects personal information, which MCA says has to wait until after it.

Social media is the one channel where MCA sets a per-post rule. Social media advertisements must include a notice that a viewer must be at least 21 "on each individual post," and MCA adds: "A pinned post or blanket statement on a social media profile does not meet this requirement." A 21+ line in the account bio covers nothing on its own.

The notice sits on top of the audience rule, which names social media among the channels that need an 85 percent adult audience. Platform policy is a third layer. Meeting Maryland's rules does not make an ad acceptable under Meta's ad rules for dispensaries on Facebook and Instagram or the Google Ads cannabis and CBD policy, and each has to be checked on its own terms.

An agency, media buyer or influencer can run the ads, but MCA's guidance says licensees "may not avoid these advertising requirements by employing third parties or otherwise outsourcing advertising," and holds licensees responsible for third parties that use their name, brand or location in ads that break the rules.

Maximum fines start at $1,000 for a first violation and rise to $50,000 for repeat violations within 24 months.

For a dispensary website, four rules change the build, and each has to work alongside search crawlers and AI answers.

To see how a dispensary site currently shows up in search, the free Bud Authority site audit runs an automated scan and shows a report card on screen. It does not review legal compliance.

The MCA documents cited on this page leave several questions open. Confirm these directly with the Maryland Cannabis Administration at cannabis.maryland.gov before acting on them:

• A standard warning statement for every ad. The MCA guidance cited here prescribes no general warning text for all advertising. The one disclosure covered on this page is conditional: under section 36-902, an ad that makes therapeutic or medical claims must include the side-effect and risk information described above. Do not borrow warning wording from another state's rules.
• Giveaways, contests, discounts and loyalty programs. The MCA guidance cited here does not address them.
• Platform-specific social media rules beyond the per-post 21+ notice.
• The full 2026 amendments. This page relies on MCA's guidance for the amended statute; the codified text of sections 36-901 through 36-903 was not checked.

For other states, the cannabis advertising laws by state hub sets out each regulator's rules. For how each ad network treats cannabis whatever the state allows, see the cannabis advertising platforms overview.