Elon Musk's Embrace Of Cannabis On Twitter: Weed Companies Still Celebrating Win-Win Situation

When Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla TSLA and Twitter CEO decided to allow cannabis brands onto Twitter, the industry jumped for joy and companies raced to be the first to get their ads posted. In fact, there were several companies that apparently slid into home plate simultaneously…but who’s keeping score at this point? 

Although, now that the Twitter feathers have settled, there seems to be a consensus that Trulieve TCNNF rolled out the first paid ad on Twitter followed by Amuse, which flew in as the first weed delivery company to make history. California-based Pax Labs, known for its vapes, followed shortly thereafter. And, the rest is history.

How’s It Going? Trulieve Seems Happy

“Having a global social media platform recognize our industry is another step forward in the normalization of cannabis in the U.S. We proudly launched a multi-state advertising campaign today to become the first company in the cannabis industry on Twitter,” Trulieve’s chief marketing officer Gina Collins said in a press release. 

Collins, by the way, is among the featured speakers at the upcoming Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference this coming April in Miami Beach.  

Who Benefits? Looks Like A Win-Win

Musk's shift could be seen as financially motivated. He does, after all, need to increase Twitter's revenues, which plunged after he took over. That said, there is no doubt the new situation will benefit the cannabis industry by normalizing and destigmatizing marijuana, thus encouraging other social media platforms to lighten up and eventually follow suit.

"So even if its cannabis marketing rules do not yet afford stakeholders the level of freedom many mistakenly believe they do, Twitter is sending a strong signal to the industry: the company sees and acknowledges its value and wants to help it thrive," wrote Nathalie Bougenies in Above The Law. "This, in turn, should result in the industry returning the favor by showing its allegiance to Twitter when choosing where to spend its advertising dollars."

Photo: Benzinga Edit of images by 2H Media on Unsplash and Duncan.Hull  on Wikimedia Commons