TGA guidance on advertising medicinal cannabis and later enforcement

The TGA’s December 2023 guidance said clinics cannot advertise medicinal cannabis directly or indirectly. What it covered and the enforcement since.

18 December 202312 min read

On 18 December 2023, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) published updated advertising guidance for businesses involved with medicinal cannabis, and amended its health services guidance to match. The message was that it is unlawful to advertise, directly or indirectly, medicinal cannabis itself, or consultations for, or prescribing of, medicinal cannabis as part of a health service. That reached well beyond product ads, into clinic names, logos, euphemisms and service pages.

Important update: the standalone medicinal cannabis guidance has since been replaced. The TGA’s December 2023 release now carries a note saying it has been replaced by Complying with the restrictions on advertising prescription medicines to the public, published on 18 June 2026 (see our article on the TGA’s 2026 prescription medicines advertising guidance). The underlying law did not change, and the newer guidance keeps the same approach, with more examples. This article explains the 2023 position, the enforcement action that followed, and how the current guidance treats medicinal cannabis.

What changed

The TGA said it had published a new version of its advertising guidance for businesses involved with medicinal cannabis, clarifying how the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 and related legislation apply. It conducted targeted consultation on the guidance before publishing.

The release reminded businesses that it is unlawful to advertise, indirectly or directly:

prescription medicines such as medicinal cannabis
consultations for, or prescribing of, medicinal cannabis as part of a health service.

It then set out three points that caught many clinics by surprise:

The prohibition extends to synonyms, such as “plant medicine”, and to any word that becomes colloquially known as, or synonymous with, medicinal cannabis.
It extends to using medicinal cannabis in business names, including logos or pictures.
Advertisements for health services that mention medicinal cannabis, directly or indirectly, will likely be taken as unlawful advertisements for medicinal cannabis.

The TGA also said health service ads must not promote the service as a means to obtain a prescription for medicinal cannabis, because that would amount to advertising the medicine. It described deterring and disrupting unlawful medicinal cannabis advertising as a compliance priority, and said its actions included infringement notices and court action.

Who it applies to

The advertising provisions of the Act apply to anyone who advertises therapeutic goods, not only to sponsors or manufacturers. In the medicinal cannabis context that includes:

medicinal cannabis clinics and prescribers, including telehealth services
pain, sleep, anxiety and other clinics that offer medicinal cannabis among other treatments
pharmacies and dispensaries
marketing agencies, PR firms and publishers who create or place content.

The TGA has said advertising is not limited to specific media. It can include social media, web pages, mass communications and articles.

What the rules require

No direct or indirect references to medicinal cannabis

Medicinal cannabis is a prescription medicine in Australia. The Act prohibits advertising prescription medicines to the public, with limited exceptions. The current TGA guidance lists the kinds of references that bring an ad within the prohibition. For medicinal cannabis, its examples include abbreviations such as CBD, THC and Delta-9, class terms such as “medicinal cannabis” and “plant-based medicine”, and images of a cannabis leaf, including in logos.

The guidance says an indirect reference such as “plant-based medicine” is likely to be treated as a reference to a prescription medicine when viewed in context, even if no product or substance is named.

No promotion of the service as a route to a prescription

You can advertise a health service. You cannot present it as a way to get medicinal cannabis. The current guidance gives a non-compliant example of a pain clinic that lists physical therapy, acupuncture and medicinal cannabis among its treatments and invites people to book with a “specialist medicinal cannabis prescriber”. Another example is a pain clinic window sign inviting people to ask about medicinal cannabis for their pain.

Business names, logos and imagery

The current guidance gives the example of a clinic that includes “Medicinal Cannabis Clinic” in its name, and a company with “Dispensary” in its name that pairs it with a stylised cannabis leaf on its shopfront and website. Both are described as non-compliant.

No restricted or prohibited representations

Claims that a therapeutic good treats serious diseases, conditions or disorders are restricted or prohibited representations. They cannot appear in advertising without TGA approval or permission. This applies on top of the ban on advertising prescription medicines.

No testimonials or practitioner endorsements

The Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code prohibits testimonials and endorsements from certain people, including current and former health practitioners. Separately, the National Law prohibits testimonials in advertising for regulated health services.

Enforcement since the guidance

The TGA has taken a number of actions since 2023. The two below are described in TGA releases. They are allegations unless and until a court decides otherwise.

Federal Court proceedings: Atlus, Mamamia, News Life Media and Straight Up PR (20 June 2025)

The TGA started Federal Court proceedings against AG Therapeutics Pty Ltd (trading as Atlus) and its sole director, Mamamia.com.au Pty Ltd, News Life Media Pty Ltd and Straight Up PR Pty Ltd. It alleges that:

Atlus advertised medicinal cannabis on its website and social media, including through euphemisms such as “plant medicine”, and promoted it for serious diseases, conditions or disorders
online articles published by Mamamia and by News Life Media (on its Body + Soul website), following a PR campaign by Atlus, advertised medicinal cannabis and included restricted and prohibited representations
the articles included testimonials and endorsements from people the Code prohibits from giving them, including a nurse in one article and a doctor in the other
the director was an accessory to the advertising in the articles, and Atlus and the PR firm caused the advertising by arranging publication.

The TGA is seeking declarations and pecuniary penalties. It said it would not comment further while the matter is before the Court. We have not checked the outcome.

Infringement notices and a direction to Dispensed Pty Ltd (22 September 2025)

The TGA issued 6 infringement notices totalling $118,800 and a direction notice to Dispensed Pty Ltd. It alleged that Dispensed advertised medicinal cannabis to the public on third-party websites and social media using indirect references such as “plant medicine” and “cannabinoid-based therapies”. The TGA said Dispensed paid the notices in September 2025. An infringement notice is not a court finding.

The direction required Dispensed to stop all medicinal cannabis advertising, including on platforms managed by third parties, recover printed material such as fliers and posters, and report evidence of compliance. The TGA said a business’s responsibility applies even when advertising is carried out by third parties on its behalf.

Practitioner regulators are watching too

On 9 July 2025, Ahpra and the National Boards published guidance on prescribing medicinal cannabis. It does not address advertising directly, but it is relevant to how clinics present themselves. It says medicinal cannabis should be prescribed with the same care as other drugs of dependence, flags very brief consultations and questionnaires that coach patients as poor practice, and warns of an inherent conflict of interest in organisations that only prescribe and dispense a single medicine. Ahpra said it will investigate practitioners with high prescribing rates even without a complaint.

What it means for your marketing

Website

Remove all direct and indirect references to medicinal cannabis from public pages. That includes treatment lists, FAQs, blog posts, image alt text, page titles and meta descriptions. Check for euphemisms like “plant medicine”, “plant-based medicine”, “cannabinoid-based therapies”, “alternative medicine” used in a cannabis context, and abbreviations like CBD and THC. Look at your images too: cannabis leaves, flower buds and product imagery can be indirect references.

The current guidance also warns that putting promotional content behind a login, paywall or membership area may still be advertising to the public, and that linking to third-party articles that promote medicinal cannabis can make your page an ad for it.

Business name, domain and logo

If your clinic name, domain or logo refers to medicinal cannabis, take advice. The TGA treats business names and logos that suggest a business prescribes or supplies a prescription medicine as potential advertising.

Google Business Profile

Business categories, service lists, descriptions, posts and photos on your profile are all public content. Apply the same review to them as to your website.

Social media and influencers

Account holders, including influencers, are responsible for content on pages they create or manage. Do not engage creators to talk about medicinal cannabis or a pathway to it. Hashtags, emojis and nicknames can all be indirect references.

PR, advertorials and media

The Atlus proceedings show the TGA is prepared to pursue editorial content that it alleges came out of a PR campaign, and to name the clinic, its director, the PR firm and the publishers. Treat any media placement about your clinic as advertising for compliance purposes, and never arrange for practitioners to endorse a medicine in media coverage.

Paid ads

Search and social ads should promote the consultation and the conditions you assess, without naming or hinting at medicinal cannabis. Keyword targeting and landing pages are part of the same ad, so review them together.

Email and SMS

The current TGA guidance says mass communications about prescription medicines, such as emails or texts, are unlikely to be exempt, even if sent to former patients. Information a practitioner gives directly to their own patient during treatment is not advertising, but a marketing list is not a consultation.

In-clinic and printed material

Waiting room posters, window signs, fliers and brochures are covered. The Dispensed direction required the recovery of printed advertising already in circulation.

Common mistakes we see

Swapping one word for another. Replacing “medicinal cannabis” with “plant medicine” or “natural therapies” does not solve the problem. The TGA treats synonyms as references.
The treatment list. A conditions page or treatment menu that lists cannabis alongside other options.
Eligibility checkers. “Check if you qualify” quizzes. The current guidance says forms that let people check their eligibility for a prescription medicine are likely to be advertising.
Logos and stock imagery. Leaf motifs, green crosses combined with cannabis imagery, or product photos.
Relying on third parties. Assuming that if an affiliate, directory or creator posts the ad, the clinic is not responsible.
Old content. Blog posts and press coverage from earlier years that were never reviewed.

A practical checklist

Search your website, blog, ads and social profiles for “cannabis”, “CBD”, “THC”, “plant medicine”, “plant-based”, “cannabinoid” and similar terms, including in alt text and metadata.
Review business name, domain, logo and signage for direct or indirect references.
Remove eligibility quizzes, product catalogues and price lists that relate to medicinal cannabis.
Rewrite service pages to describe the consultation and the conditions assessed, without suggesting a particular treatment will result.
Check that no page makes claims about treating serious diseases, conditions or disorders.
Remove testimonials and any practitioner endorsements of medicines.
Audit links to third-party articles and research from your pages.
Brief PR agencies, affiliates and creators in writing, and keep a record.
Collect and remove printed material in circulation that does not comply.
Review email and SMS templates sent to lists.

How this fits with other rules

TGA. The ban on advertising prescription medicines sits in the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. The Code adds rules on testimonials, endorsements and representations. The TGA’s current guidance on prescription medicines, published 18 June 2026, has replaced the 2023 medicinal cannabis guidance. In TGA releases from 2025 and 2026 the TGA quotes civil penalties of up to $1.65 million per breach for individuals and $16.5 million per breach for corporations.

Ahpra and the National Boards. Registered practitioners also have obligations under the National Law, including the testimonial ban and the prohibition on misleading advertising, and under their Board’s code of conduct. Ahpra’s July 2025 medicinal cannabis guidance covers prescribing practice and conflicts of interest.

Health Ministers. At their 12 September 2025 meeting, Health Ministers discussed the rise in medicinal cannabis prescribing, asked the TGA to report back on its review, and asked the Medical Board to report on its approach to complaints about over-prescribing through telehealth business models.

Consumer law. The Australian Consumer Law also prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct in advertising.

Frequently asked questions

Can we say we treat chronic pain or sleep problems?

Promoting the conditions you assess and the consultation itself, without referring to medicinal cannabis directly or indirectly, is the approach the TGA’s guidance points to. Be careful that the overall context, such as your clinic name, imagery or links, does not imply a particular medicine.

Is “plant medicine” acceptable if we never say cannabis?

No. The TGA’s 2023 release named “plant medicine” as an example, and the current guidance gives “plant-based medicine” as an example of an indirect reference to a prescription medicine.

Can our doctors talk about medicinal cannabis with patients?

Yes, in the course of treating a patient. Information given by a practitioner directly to their patient during treatment is not subject to the advertising rules. Public content and mass communications are a different matter.

What if a news outlet writes about our clinic?

If the coverage results from a PR campaign or other arrangement, it may be treated as advertising. The TGA’s Federal Court case against Atlus, two publishers and a PR firm involves allegations of this kind.

Does the 2023 guidance still apply?

It has been replaced by the TGA’s June 2026 guidance on advertising prescription medicines to the public. The legal position on medicinal cannabis is the same, and the newer guidance gives more detailed examples.

Need a hand?

If your clinic prescribes or discusses medicinal cannabis, a fresh review of everything public is a sensible step. Our TGA advertising compliance service checks websites, profiles, ads and printed material against the current guidance, and our AHPRA compliance audit covers the National Law side, including testimonials. If you work with creators or agencies, our compliance training can help your team brief them.

This article is general guidance based on the published rules, not legal advice. Final responsibility for advertising sits with the registered practitioner, and complex situations may need independent legal advice.