Twitter has relaxed its policy toward cannabis brands in an effort to get them to spend money on advertising on the social platform.
The social giant, now under the control of billionaire Elon Musk, updated its policy and says it wants the "cannabis space on Twitter [to be] fun and engaging with users Tweeting about their experiences using cannabis."
Twitter wrote in a tweet, "Going forward, certified advertisers may feature packaged cannabis products in ad creative."
The social brand has previously prohibited cannabis advertisements from displaying cannabis products in ads on the platform. The promotion of the sale of cannabis was also previously not allowed.
Twitter updated its policy this week, writing that cannabis sellers may "continue responsibly linking to their owned and operated web pages and e-commerce experiences for CBD, THC, and cannabis-related products and services."
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, as well as Alphabet, the parent of search giant Google, both still join other major tech companies in prohibiting the advertisement of cannabis products on their platforms.
Google, though, does allow FDA-approved CBD product advertisements and ads for products that have a THC content of 0.3% or less in states including California, Colorado and in the U.S. territory Puerto Rico. CBD is a non-psychoactive compound derived from hemp, and THC is the psychoactive component to the cannabis plant.
Twitter said it was relaxing its cannabis ads policy in "certain U.S. states."
The company said it wants to help "more customers unlock the power of Twitter Ads to connect with the cannabis conversation and drive their business forward."
Musk himself has consumed cannabis. In 2018 he was seen on the Joe Rogan Podcast smoking a cannabis cigarette after Rogan confirmed he had just lit up a joint.
Musk said it prompted the federal government to test him and employees of his company SpaceX for a year.
Musk said on the "Full Send" podcast shortly after the 2018 appearance on Rogan's show that he got "a lot of backlash, because it's still federally illegal."
"Space X has federal government contracts," he said.
He said the company's competitors were like "Why aren't you doing anything? Look at him brazenly smoking weed on Joe Rogan's podcast."
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