4/20 is coming up. Why is it hard to find weed discounts in Missouri?
April 20 is one of the busiest days for From the Earth Dispensary, according to David Craig, vice president of marketing.
“4/20 is the Super Bowl for cannabis,” Craig said.
Named for the afternoon hour when a group of friends in the 1970s met to smoke weed, 4/20 is the unofficial stoner holiday of the year. In 2025, the day falls on Easter Sunday.
Craig works for the Kansas City area cannabis company that, in addition to running seven From the Earth dispensaries, grows marijuana and makes gummies and other products under the name Illicit Gardens. He said that they receive 50-150% more traffic on 4/20 than on a regular weekend. And many of those buying are marijuana newcomers, people who don’t regularly use products.
While weed is still prohibited in Kansas, medical marijuana first hit Missouri dispensary shelves in 2020, and recreational cannabis went for sale in Feb. 2023.
For the “canna-curious,” as Craig describes them, marijuana discounts can be hard to find. In the budding industry of Missouri marijuana, customers face challenges finding information on social media, physical billboards and other advertising methods.
Here’s why it’s difficult to advertise marijuana sales in Missouri.
Missouri advertising laws
Missouri has general laws for advertising marijuana, but they don’t cover each circumstance. Dispensaries work with the Division of Cannabis Regulation within the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to make sure their packaging and marketing don’t break rules.
Dispensaries cannot give out free weed at events because each transaction needs to be registered with the state, but From the Earth found a way around this rule. At concerts and festivals, Craig said that attendees who sign up for the dispensary’s rewards program get a coupon to pick up a free pre-rolled joint inside of the dispensary.
Advertisements of marijuana in Missouri have to abide by the state law and be free from false or misleading information; statements saying marijuana has curing effects; and content that appeals to children, like cartoons of animals or humans.
Here are the rules from the Code of State Regulations:
“No advertisement of marijuana may contain:
1. Any representation that is false or misleading in any way;
2. Any statement representing that the use of marijuana has curative or therapeutic effects or tending to create an impression that it has curative or therapeutic effects unless such statement has been evaluated and approved by the Food and Drug Administration;
3. Any content that is attractive to children, including but not limited to the shape or any part of the shape of an animal or fruit, including realistic, artistic, caricature, or cartoon renderings, and artistic, caricature, or cartoon renderings of the shape or any part of the shape of a human; or
4. Any statement concerning a brand of marijuana that is inconsistent with any statement on the labeling”
Free weed billboards
Third party companies often don’t want to get mixed up in the marijuana madness, which leads companies to advertise through texts and emails.
From the Earth rents billboards to advertise their dispensaries. Craig said that to set them up, he had just emailed Lamar Advertising Company, a billboard business. But they had some edits for his design.
Craig suggested a billboard with the words, “Come in for free weed,” which Lamar’s lawyers rejected because they thought the word “weed” was too slang-like.
“I might be able to send the same billboard to another billboard company, and they might put it up,” Craig said.
Facebook and Instagram tend to shut down dispensary accounts or stop showing them in followers’ feeds. For that reason, Craig said at his company, “We really deprioritize social media.”
How to find weed sales
Craig said he does most of his marketing directly through email and text, because of the difficulties with billboards and social media. By signing up for the dispensary alerts, customers can directly hear about discounts.
In addition, many dispensaries offer weekly specials for certain brands or types of products, which shoppers can find on a company’s website. Also, some give discounts to first-time customers, students, veterans and other groups.
Have more questions about marijuana in the Kansas City area? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published April 16, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
