Even though cannabis has gained mainstream acceptance in recent years, but it’s still federally banned in the U.S. Thus Facebook decided this week it will maintain its stance against marijuana advertising on its social media platforms.
According to MarketWatch, Facebook held a special product policy meeting this week to discuss potential changes to its stance on cannabis. The company opted to maintain its current policies toward cannabis — that it’s completely banned.
“[Facebook] sort of has a blanket over cannabis, and is unable to really differentiate between hemp, which is legal federally, and marijuana,” says Hemp Industry Associations executive director Colleen Lanier. “We feel that it’s really unfortunate that Facebook is promoting this artificial intelligence to tell things apart, and they can not seem to get it right for cannabis, especially hemp. We can put a billboard up in Times Square, but we can’t pay for a boost on Facebook.”
Currently: Facebook doesn’t not allow any attempts to buy, sell or trade cannabis on its platforms, including Instagram. Facebook does allow advertising of products derived from cannabidiol (CBD) , a compound derived from cannabis that is devoid of psychoactive activity including. Facebook also allows content related to the sale of cannabis seeds or other cannabis-related paraphernalia, including bongs, rolling papers and vaporizers. Part may because the FTC and FDA have taken a strict stance about this.
“We’re dealing with a regulator that’s trying to fix that plane while they’re flying it,” Michael Elkin, vice president of partnerships and sales at High 12 Brands, said late Tuesday over the phone to MarketWatch. “Health Canada has not come out with a specific regulation — we are still waiting for proper direction. Nothing [would have] changed.”
ALSO: According to Forbes, media veteran and medical CBD consumer Felicia Palmer, who founded the longest running hip-hop website in the world, SOHH.com, is suing Facebook for rejecting ads for an educational cannabis summit, and for temporarily suspending the page for a new company she founded to put on the summit. The executive director of the New York chapter of NORML, the national marijuana advocacy organization, litigation attorney David C. Holland, Esq., is handling the case pro-bono.
Facebook deleted Palmer’s account after she paid for sponsored ads to promote her upcoming Cannaramic Online Summit, which is a series of educational classes dedicated to teaching people the safest and most effective ways to utilize cannabis. Palmer claims that Facebook “induced her buy into the network’s paid-for-advertisements program,” most likely by offering to place her ad for a heavily discounted rate, which is something they often do.
