Cannabis websites expand promotions faster than warnings

Cannabis marketing and regulation have rapidly evolved. This study examined online cannabis marketing across different regulatory contexts. In 2022 and 2025, we assessed cannabis retailer websites from 5 US cities: Denver, Colorado; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Las Vegas (LV), Nevada; and Los Angeles (LA), California. We assessed age verification, online sales, products, marketing, and warnings, and compared by city in 2025 (N = 171) and by year (N = 130). In 2025, most verified age (83.6%) and offered online sales (96.5%). Frequently promoted health benefits included sleep (58.5%) and pain (48.5%), most often by Denver, LV, and LA retailers (P's < .05). Targeted populations included veterans/military (40.9%) and racial/ethnic minorities (24.0%), especially in LV and LA (P's < .05), as well as seniors (29.2%), women (25.7%), LGBTQ+ (13.5%), young adults (13.5%), and underage (7.6%). Price promotions included daily/weekly/monthly specials (78.9%) and membership/loyalty programs (75.4%). Most (73.7%) displayed health/safety warnings (range: 57.6% in Portland to 96.9% in LV, P = .003), commonly adults-only (57.9%) and keep from children (46.8%). Most (58.5%) displayed regulation-related warnings (range: 41.9% in LA to 71.9% in Seattle, P = .011), common purchase/amount restrictions (49.1%) and no public use (27.5%). There were increases (P's < .05) from 2022 to 2025 in beverage offerings (74.6% in 2022 vs 90.0% in 2025), membership/loyalty programs (64.6% vs 78.5%), and targeting veterans/military (28.5% vs 40.0%), seniors (4.6% vs 27.7%), LGBTQ+ (5.4% vs 13.1%), and racial/ethnic minorities (4.6% vs 19.2%). Stronger regulations and enforcement are needed to address online retail, including limiting product access, price promotions, and marketing practices targeting specific populations.