A fight over marijuana ads in Mississippi hits the Supreme Court

OG Article

Maureen Groppe

05-05-2025

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a challenge to Mississippi’s near-total restriction on the advertising of medical marijuana.

Mississippi voters overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana in 2020, but the state tightly controls how the product can be promoted.

The owner of a cannabis dispensary argued that violates his free speech rights.

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Clarence Cocroft, owner of Tru Source Medical Cannabis, wants to advertise on four billboards he owns. Advertising is needed, he said, because his dispensary is tucked away in an industrial park where people aren’t likely to see it.

“I was hoping the Supreme Court would hear our case so my business could be treated just like any other legal business in the state of Mississippi," Cocroft said in a statement.

The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Cocroft doesn't have a First Amendment right to advertise his business because marijuana is still illegal under federal law.

The Biden administration moved to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, but that effort has stalled. Even if the change goes through, it would still be a controlled substance and the federal government would need to decide when marijuana could be prescribed for medical purposes.

But only a handful of states have a complete prohibition on marijuana. And for years, the federal government has had various rules about not challenging state's more permissive laws.

That puts many dispensaries “in First Amendment limbo,” the Institute for Justice, which represented Cocroft, argued.

Mississippi, which waived its right to respond to Cocroft’s request that the Supreme Court hear his appeal, doesn’t allow marijuana to be advertised through billboards, newspapers, television, social media or email lists.

Arkansas and Alabama likewise have similar restrictions, according to the Institute for Justice.

“An outright ban on all medical cannabis advertising,” said the institute's Katrin Marquez, “serves no legitimate public purpose.”