Abstract
BackgroundSince 2012, several states have legalized non-medical cannabis, and cannabis businesses have used social media as a primary form of marketing. There are concerns that social media cannabis exposure may reach underage viewers. Our objective was to identify how cannabis businesses cultivate an online presence and exert influence that may reach youth.MethodsWe chose a cyber-ethnographic approach to explore cannabis retailers on social media. We searched cannabis retailers with Facebook and Instagram presence from Alaska, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington, and identified 28 social media business profiles. One year of content was evaluated from each profile. In-depth, observational field notes were collected from researchers immersed in data collection on business profiles. Field notes were analyzed to uncover common themes associated with social media cannabis marketing.ResultsA total of 14 businesses were evaluated across both Facebook and Instagram, resulting in 14 sets of combined field notes. A major theme was Normalization of Cannabis, involving both Broad Appeal and Specific Targeting.ConclusionsIt is concerning that Normalization of Cannabis by cannabis businesses may increase cannabis acceptability among youth. In a digital world where the majority of youth are spending time online, it is important for policymakers to examine additional restrictions for cannabis businesses marketing through social media.
Highlights
Since 2012, several states have legalized non-medical cannabis, and cannabis businesses have used social media as a primary form of marketing
Profile identification We identified retail cannabis businesses with Facebook and Instagram presence from Alaska, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington, in order to have a representative sample of states where non-medical cannabis is legalized
A total of 14 businesses were evaluated across both Facebook and Instagram, resulting in 14 sets of combined field notes
Summary
Since 2012, several states have legalized non-medical cannabis, and cannabis businesses have used social media as a primary form of marketing. There are concerns that social media cannabis exposure may reach underage viewers. In November 2012, Washington State passed Initiative No 502 (I-502) which legalized non-medical, adult cannabis use. 11 states and Washington D.C. have approved the use of cannabis for non-medical use, and the topic of legalization continues to generate new policy measures [1,2,3,4,5]. Legalization in specific states along with increased acceptance of cannabis use among adults has generated public concern regarding youth and exposure to cannabis [6]. Cannabis businesses have begun to promote their products on social media [14]
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