Despite growing acceptance of cannabis, many state-regulated marijuana businesses say their social media pages are being hidden, engagement is being throttled and – in some cases – accounts are being shut down.

Because most states restrict marijuana ads from television, radio and print media, licensed operators have turned to social media platforms such as Instagram, owned by Meta, to spread their messages.

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“Meta updated its terms and conditions about two weeks ago,” said John Greene, co-owner of Rhode Island cannabis cultivator CMS Gardens.

“As soon as that email was sent to Meta users, thousands of accounts that were related to cannabis started going down.”

Green described Meta’s previous guidelines as “more relaxed” until the update.

Meta did not respond to MJBizDaily requests for comment.

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As more states adopt regulated marijuana programs, executives at licensed cannabis brands are seeking innovative ways to reach new markets.

Brand licensing, revenue-sharing, profit-sharing and franchising all are ways to circumvent restrictions on interstate commerce, said Avis Bulbulyan, CEO of California-based cannabis consulting firm Siva.

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“It’s all really licensing, it’s just how you go about it,” Bulbulyan told MJBizDaily.

“There are 50 different ways to split the fees.”

Under licensing arrangements, which tend to be rigid, licensees typically pay for the right to use – not own – a brand’s product or intellectual property.

Licensing often includes an upfront fee, and the licensee assumes most of the financial risk because they must pay the brand regardless of revenue performance.

However, some brands are

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2024 will go down as one of the quietest years for marijuana market launches.

The debut of Ohio’s adult-use retail market on Aug. 6 is the lone standout, in contrast to perennial market expansion that’s been a bedrock of the industry for more than a decade.

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Last year, by comparison, three states in the Northeast and Midwest launched recreational marijuana sales, while two in the Deep South began medical cannabis sales.

This year, Ohio became the 21st U.S. state to establish adult-use sales, following Maryland’s launch in July 2023 and Missouri’s debut in February 2023.

The gap of nearly one year between recreational market launches is believed to be the industry’s longest drought since the first wave of regulated, adult-use consumer access began in 2014.

“Insufficient funding for

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