Supreme Court won’t hear dispute over Mississippi ban on advertising medical marijuana

The Supreme Court announced Monday it would not hear a dispute out of Mississippi over the ability to advertise the sale of medical marijuana.

The petition came to the court from Clarence Cocroft, who owns the first Black-owned and operated medical marijuana dispensary in Mississippi, Tru Source Medical Cannabis.

Under state law, medical marijuana is legal, but the Mississippi Department of Health prohibits the advertising of it.

Though federal law does not legalize the selling of marijuana, Congress has prevented the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act for more than a decade against state dispensaries, according to court records.

Mr. Cocroft argued that the banning of his proposed advertisements on things like billboards to promote his business runs afoul of the First Amendment.

“Medical marijuana is legal under state law in most of America. And yet many dispensaries in those states operate in First Amendment limbo — unsure whether their commercial speech is constitutionally protected or, given federal law on the matter, could be deemed as promoting a federal crime,” his filing read.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had held there was not a First Amendment violation since federal law prohibits the selling of marijuana.


It would have taken four justices to vote in favor of hearing Mr. Cocroft’s appeal for oral arguments to have been granted.

The court’s decision not to consider the issue leaves the 5th Circuit’s decision in place.

The case was Clarence Cocroft v. Chris Graham, the commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Revenue.