Public Health

If it’s marketed as cannabis, it needs a warning label

Cannabis use disorder on the rise among youth and pregnant people, driven by targeted marketing. AMA model bill would give consumers more information.

By
Jennifer Lubell , Contributing News Writer
| 4 Min Read

AMA News Wire

If it’s marketed as cannabis, it needs a warning label

Feb 3, 2025

Cannabis use is growing among young people and other populations such as expectant mothers, driven in part by targeted marketing campaigns. The AMA has long maintained that cannabis and cannabis-derived products are dangerous drugs and pose a serious public health concern.

Responding to a directive from AMA House of Delegates, the AMA has developed a model bill to provide cannabis warnings to youth and people who are pregnant or breastfeeding. The measure calls for specific labeling and safety and product information on cannabis and cannabis-derived products.

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The requirements would apply to all products marketed, sold or advertised in print, TV, billboards, signs and internet advertising. “This includes a prohibition of advertisements within 1,000 feet of child care centers, playgrounds, schools or other areas where individuals under the age of 21 regularly congregate,” says the model bill.

No evidence exists that cannabis helps with morning sickness as noted in a Food and Drug Administration explainer, which also stresses that “medical marijuana” is just as harmful as nonmedical cannabis during all stages of pregnancy and while breastfeeding. 

The AMA House of Delegates in 2023 took action to advocate “regulations requiring point-of-sale warnings and product labeling for cannabis and cannabis-based products regarding the potential dangers of use during pregnancy and breastfeeding wherever these products are sold or distributed.”

The AMA also has policy advocating stronger public-health messaging on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoid use among young people as well as people who are pregnant or breastfeeding. The AMA supports research to assess the consequences of long-term cannabis use in these populations.

The model bill outlines specific requirements on warning label content, size, location and restrictions on placement. Any licensee, producer, person, corporation or other entity should not be allowed to manufacture, package, sell, or transfer any cannabis or cannabis-derived product unless the package bears all requirements for a warning label under this bill.  

The model bill also provides specific requirements for labels, including the name, potency, identification of testing and multiple options for specific warnings and safety information. The model bill includes a specific requirement to include a “not safe for kids” icon as well as a ban on using kid-oriented imagery such as cartoons, toys, animals, children, or phrases popularly used to advertise to youth and adolescents.

With cannabis use on the rise, an AMA podcast series details cannabis pharmacology, screening tools and how to advise patients. Here is what physicians should know about cannabis use and health.

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AMA policy maintains that sale of cannabis for adult use should not be legalized for anyone under the age of 21, yet people between 12- and 17-years old use cannabis more than any other illicit substance.

Exposure to cannabis advertisements is prevalent among adolescents, with these shares reporting exposure to advertisements in various media:

•    52.8%—internet.
•    32.1%—TV.
•    24.1%—magazines and newspapers.
•    19.7%—radio.
•    19.0%—storefronts. 
•    16.6%—billboards.

Depending on the platform, exposure to cannabis marketing on Facebook, X and Instagram was associated with increased odds of past-year cannabis use between 88%–129%, according to a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health

Over 10 years, states with legalized medical cannabis saw a 42.7% rise in cannabis-use disorder and an 88.6% increase in cannabis poisoning when compared with states without legalized medical cannabis, says a study published in JAMA Psychiatry. States with legalized cannabis for adult use also saw a 31.6% rise in cannabis poisoning compared to states without this provision. 

Other research, published in the journal Pediatrics, has documented increases in unintentional pediatric ingestions of cannabis edibles after legalization. In states with legalized cannabis, regional poison centers have seen an increase in calls regarding exposures and in visits to pediatric emergency care centers.

The AMA has urged states that have already legalized cannabis for medical and nonmedical reasons to regulate the product effectively in the areas of retail sales, marketing, and promotion. States should also limit the potency of cannabis extracts and concentrates and require that packaging is easy to read. For commercially available edibles, packaging should be child-resistant and include information about the hazards about unintentional ingestion in children and youth.

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