Earlier this year, Twitter under its 420-friendly ownertec became the first major social media firm to permit cannabis marketing. In an effort to draw in more advertisers from U.S. states where marijuana is legal, the platform is now loosening those regulations.
According to a statement on Twitter's website, “certified advertisers may now include packaged cannabis products in ad creative.” Prior to this, cannabis marketers were unable to display any items in their advertising or actively encourage customers to buy them.
“They may also continue responsibly linking to their owned and operated web pages and e-commerce experiences for CBD, THC, and cannabis-related products and services,” said Twitter.
The multibillionaire Tesla CEO had to drastically slash expenses and scurry to discover new cash streams in order to defend his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. In January, the platform also lifted a restriction on political advertising.
Still, there is a lengthy list of requirements that businesses must follow in order to advertise cannabis goods on Twitter. Among other rules, they must adhere to Twitter's licensing and pre-approval requirements, only target countries where they have a license, and abstain from targeting people who are younger than 21.
Cannabis advertising are not allowed at Google, Facebook's parent company Meta, or other significant digital firms. In California, Colorado, and Puerto Rico, Google does permit advertisements for topical CBD products that have received FDA approval and for hemp-derived CBD products with a THC level of 0.3% or less, but not for marijuana, even in areas where it is legal.
When Musk tweeted that he was considering buying out Tesla for $420 per share, a figure that was generally believed to be related to a certain hour in the afternoon of April 20, when cannabis lovers yearly commemorate the substance by indulging in it, Musk became popularly associated with marijuana use in 2018. Soon after the post from August 2018, Musk shared a joint on a podcast with Joe Rogan.
Musk testified that the price of his offer was not intended to be a marijuana reference but conceding why some people may interpret it as such in a trial focusing on whether Musk's takeover tweet had deceived Tesla investors.
“I believe there is some karma in the area of 420. At this point, I should wonder whether it is good or bad karma,” Musk stated while testifying.
Generally speaking, the phrase “420” has a hazy history. Some said that it was inspired by a Bob Dylan song or that it was a reference to a police policy about marijuana possession.
But it has been widely accepted that it began in the 1970s with a group of California high school students. Because marijuana was still mostly illegal at the time, a friend's brother allegedly sketched a map and granted the adolescents permission to harvest a patch of cannabis he was cultivating in the woods near Point Reyes, north of San Francisco, out of fear of being caught.
The gang would gather outside the school's monument of chemist Louis Pasteur at 4:20 pm in the autumn of 1971, just after classes and football practice, smoke a joint, and then go off to look for the marijuana patch. It was never located, but the number was kept.
