Florida's Proposed Permanent Dispensary Marketing Rule Is Out. What Does It Say About the Screens Inside Your Store?

Since December 31, 2025, every Florida dispensary has marketed under an emergency rule — 64ER25-6, the one we mapped in June. On August 24, the Department of Health published the proposed permanent replacement: Proposed Rule 64-4.227, MMTC Advertising and Marketing, in Volume 52, Number 164 of the Florida Administrative Register. The listed comment period runs 21 days, August 24 through September 14, 2026. A hearing must be held if one was requested within those 21 days, and the Department may schedule one on its own; under Florida's Administrative Procedure Act, relevant submissions received through any final hearing are part of the record the agency has to consider.

Most of the proposed text is the emergency rule, carried over word for word. But not all of it. Reading the two side by side — the proposed text begins on page 3667 of that FAR issue; the emergency rule is in Vol. 52, No. 01 — turns up changes that touch exterior signage, in-store materials, social media, and the compliance clock. Nothing below is legal advice, and a proposed rule can still change before adoption. But if you run a dispensing facility in Florida, this is the text your store may well live inside for years, and it's worth knowing what moved.

What the proposed rule keeps

The architecture is unchanged. Subsection (2) says an MMTC "may advertise and market only as follows": signage under subsection (4), "inside the MMTC's dispensing facility" under subsection (5), and "on the internet" under subsection (6). Then the sentence that does the work: "No other advertisements or marketing are permitted."

The in-store paragraph that matters most to us is also carried over with a one-word change. Under (5)(a), advertising and marketing inside the dispensing facility "shall not be visible to the public from outside of the dispensing facility," and neither may "marijuana, usable products, receptacles, packages, and marijuana delivery devices." Frosted glass, angled screens, and a lobby layout that keeps the menu off the sidewalk remain the baseline.

And the content list in subsection (3) — the things no MMTC advertisement or marketing may contain — is nearly identical: nothing false or misleading; no claim that a product cures a condition; nothing stating or implying recreational use, use for a non-qualifying condition, or use by anyone other than a qualified patient; no depiction of consumption, or of marijuana in a social or recreational setting; no celebrities or influencers (including computer-generated ones); no "childlike images or fonts, or misspellings"; nothing attractive to children as the statute defines it; and no depiction of "usable products, receptacles, packages, or product names that have not been approved by the department."

What changed: the emergency rule vs. the proposed rule

Here is the diff, provision by provision. Quotations are from the two rule texts; "emergency" means 64ER25-6 as published January 2, 2026, and "proposed" means 64-4.227 as published August 24, 2026.

Provision	Emergency rule 64ER25-6	Proposed rule 64-4.227
Exterior signage (4)	Four categories: one sign affixed to the building or hung in a window; one sign "not directly affixed" (e.g., a joint-tenant or free-standing sign); one informational sign up to 4 sq ft at the entrance with hours, trade name, phone number, website URL, and logo; and instructional signage (parking, deliveries) in white with black lettering, up to 4 sq ft	One category: the affixed or window sign, restricted to the approved trade name, one approved logo, and the words Medical Marijuana Treatment Center, MMTC, Cannabis Dispensary, "or any combination thereof." Then: "No other signs advertising the MMTC are permitted." The free-standing, informational, and instructional sign paragraphs do not appear
Inside the facility (5)	Not-visible-from-outside rule, plus two paragraphs allowing brochures or printed literature to be handed to patients "upon the dispensation" of product, with five required health notices in 12-point type	Not-visible-from-outside rule, plus one new sentence: advertising and marketing inside the facility, "such as wall murals and posters must comply with subsection (3)." The brochure and notice paragraphs do not appear
Social media (6)(b)	Accounts must be registered on Form DH5064 (12/2025). Posts need no prior approval but must comply with the content rules	Accounts must be approved on Form DH5064 (09/2026). Posts need no prior approval, must comply with the content rules, and are "limited to" six things: the approved trade name and logo; contact information; dispensing locations; hours; products available; and pricing, "including sale and discount information"
Paid internet ads (6)(c)	"Sponsored, paid, or targeted" ads, prior approval under Rule 64-4.023, age-selectable platforms only, no under-18 targeting	Same requirements; the word "targeted" is dropped from the category
Content list (3)	17 items	18 items. New (q): nothing that "depicts activities or conditions considered risky when under the influence of marijuana, such as operating a vehicle, boat, or machinery"
Whole flower (3)(m)	Prohibited, "However, an MMTC may have photos or illustrations of usable whole flower marijuana as a product listing on its department-approved website"	Prohibited "except as provided in subparagraph (6)(d)3." — the paragraph requiring website product depictions to match what is actually dispensed. The explicit product-listing exception is replaced by that cross-reference
"Celebrity" (1)(b)	Anyone "famous or well known" in entertainment, sports, politics, social media, etc.	The same person, but only if they have "an agreement, contractual obligation, or other economic incentive to advertise or market the MMTC or its products"
Third parties (7)	An MMTC "shall not contract with, or otherwise authorize, a third party" to market in a way that violates the rule	"shall not contract with, or otherwise engage, a third party" — otherwise identical
Transition (9)	90 days from the effective date to discontinue previously approved, non-compliant advertising	180 days from the effective date

Three things stand out.

The exterior got narrower on paper. Under the emergency rule, a store in a shopping center could rely on a listed provision for its joint-tenant pylon panel, a small hours-and-website sign at the door, and a "deliveries around back" sign. The proposed text lists one sign, and then says no other signs advertising the MMTC are permitted. Whether an hours sign or a parking sign is a sign "advertising the MMTC" — the rule defines an advertisement as any representation "for the purpose of attracting attention to, or promoting, an MMTC" — is exactly the kind of question the comment window existed for. If your exterior currently depends on any of the three dropped categories, this is the first thing to ask your counsel about.

The inside got a name check. Apart from a paragraph on brochures, the emergency rule never described what in-store marketing looked like; it just said it couldn't be seen from outside. The proposed rule adds "wall murals and posters" as examples and ties them to the content rules. Digital screens aren't named either way — but a menu board is marketing material inside the facility in the same sense a poster is, and the safe reading is that the content list applies to every loop on every screen. What's gone is that brochure paragraph: the emergency rule's explicit permission to hand printed literature to a patient at dispensation, and the requirement that such literature carry five health notices, are not in the proposed subsection (5). (The same five notices still apply to the website homepage and to email under subsection (6).) Whether that means handouts fall under the general in-store rule or something else is, again, a counsel question.

Social media got a content list; the store didn't. This is the change with the biggest strategic consequence. As proposed, an MMTC's own social accounts may post six kinds of content — name and logo, contact details, locations, hours, what's available, and what it costs. A "what is a terpene" explainer, a "new to the medical program?" walkthrough, a post on how to read a certificate of analysis: none of those fit the six categories as written. The in-store channel has no such list. Inside the facility, the rule is the content prohibitions in subsection (3) and the visibility rule in (5) — nothing more. On content, that is roughly the latitude the proposed rule gives your approved website, your opt-in email, and your approved app — each of which carries its own extra requirements, such as the health notices — and considerably more than it gives your social accounts. For the patient who is already in the building, the screen is where that content can still run.

What it means for the screens

If you take the proposed text at face value, three audits are worth running now, before anything is adopted.

The sightline audit. Stand on the sidewalk, in the parking lot, and at any window that faces a public place. Anything visible from there — a menu, a promo slide, a product box on a shelf, a package on a counter — is the (5)(a) problem; the rule says visible, not legible, and it covers products and packaging as well as marketing. This is unchanged from the emergency rule. Frosted film, screen placement, and mounting angle are the usual fixes, but each one needs to be checked from outside, at night with the screens on as well as in daylight; a good rule of thumb is that a screen facing a window is facing the street.

The content audit. Go loop by loop against subsection (3). The items that catch real menus are (h) — a product, package, or product name the department hasn't approved yet — and (m), any depiction of usable whole flower — photos and illustrations alike. Under the proposed rule, the only place whole-flower imagery is contemplated at all is the department-approved website, via a cross-reference, so the conservative position for an in-store screen is no whole-flower imagery of any kind. Add the new (q): nothing that depicts an activity "considered risky when under the influence of marijuana" — the rule's examples are operating a vehicle, boat, or machinery. A lifestyle B-roll clip that would pass in another state can fail here.

The vendor audit. Subsection (7) says an MMTC may not engage a third party to market it in a way that violates the rule. That is the paragraph aimed at your agency, your printer, your app developer, and your signage provider. A vendor who treats "the content came from the client" as the end of the conversation is missing the point of (7): the obligation sits with you, not them. Ask whoever builds your in-store content how they handle a product that gets pulled, a name that hasn't been approved, or a slide that drifts toward a recreational frame — because under this rule, their mistake can become your disciplinary action under Rule 64-4.210.

And then there's the clock. When a permanent rule is adopted, subsection (9) gives an MMTC 180 days from the effective date to discontinue "previously approved advertisements or marketing" that don't comply. Twice the emergency rule's 90 days — but the clock starts on the rule's effective date, not at your next inspection, and it runs across every location at once. A fleet of screens that changes centrally can be brought into line in an afternoon. A fleet of printed posters is a reprint per store.

What to do this month

Whatever happens with comments and any hearing, the operator's job between now and adoption is preparation. In order:

1. Map your exterior against the one-sign text. List every sign on the property — pylon panel, door decal, hours plaque, parking and delivery signs — and note which of them exist only under an emergency-rule paragraph the proposed rule doesn't carry forward. Take that list to counsel.
2. Re-check your social calendar against the six categories. As proposed, an owned-account post is name and logo, contact info, locations, hours, products available, and pricing. If your content plan leans on education posts, plan for where that content lives instead — your approved website, your opt-in email, or the store, where the patient is already standing.
3. Audit every screen loop against subsection (3) — flower imagery, unapproved names, consumption, risky-activity footage — and against (5)(a) sightlines. Fix what fails now; there's no reason to wait for the 180-day clock to start.
4. Confirm your vendors read (7) the same way you do. Get it in writing.
5. Watch the Florida Administrative Register. A Notice of Hearing (if one was requested), a Notice of Change, or a Notice of Adoption for 64-4.227 will show up there, and OMMU mirrors its notices on its Notices page. One caution: as of this writing OMMU's page links the 64-4.227 entry to a different notice; the proposed-rule notice itself is flrules ID 31289210. Every date in this series, including this one, is on our Florida compliance hub.

Where screens fit

This is our lane, so here's the honest version. In our reading, a digital menu board is "advertising and marketing inside the MMTC's dispensing facility" — permitted, and, as proposed, one of the channels where you can still say more than name, hours, and price (your website, email, and app are the others; your social accounts would not be). The constraints on it are the same ones that apply to a poster: keep it inside the sightline, keep it inside subsection (3), and keep it current.

The last one is where the technology earns its keep. One of the easier ways to fall out of (3)(h) is a product, package, or name that isn't approved, still sitting on a screen because someone forgot to take it down. POS synchronization narrows that window: once an operator removes an item from each affected location's POS inventory, connected menus reflect that change within minutes, reducing stale listings. It doesn't decide what's department-approved — an operator still has to verify approval and remove non-compliant content — but it shortens the time an item someone meant to pull keeps showing. When the 180-day clock does start, a centrally managed fleet re-points in one edit. If you're evaluating what that should look like, our dispensary digital signage buyer's guide walks through the compliance questions to ask before the feature questions.

The takeaway

Proposed Rule 64-4.227 is mostly the rule you already live under, proposed to be made permanent. The proposal tightens several marketing restrictions — fewer signs outside, a shorter list of what your social accounts may say, one more thing your content may not depict — while narrowing the celebrity definition and extending the transition period. In-store screens remain a useful way to reach patients during their visit. Treat them as a compliance surface first and a sales tool second, and the rule becomes manageable — because it applies to the store across the street too.

If keeping every screen in every store inside the lines is the part that's hard, that's what we build. See how GreenScreens works or get a demo — we'll walk you through a live store.

Frequently asked questions

What is Florida Rule 64-4.227? It's the Department of Health's proposed permanent rule on advertising and marketing by medical marijuana treatment centers, published August 24, 2026, to replace emergency rule 64ER25-6. It keeps the three permitted channels — limited exterior signage, marketing inside the dispensing facility, and controlled internet activity — and the content prohibitions, with the changes described above. As of this writing it is a proposed rule, not an adopted one.

Is 64-4.227 in effect? No. The listed comment period ran August 24 through September 14, 2026. Under Florida's Administrative Procedure Act, a rule is adopted when the agency files it with the Department of State, and it generally becomes effective 20 days after filing unless a later date is specified or a statutory exception applies (§120.54(3)(d)–(e), F.S.). Substantive changes before filing are published as a Notice of Change in the Florida Administrative Register; technical changes don't necessarily require one. Until 64-4.227 is adopted and effective, emergency rule 64ER25-6 remains the operative rule.

Can a Florida dispensary still show a menu on a screen inside the store? Yes, as proposed. Marketing inside the dispensing facility is a permitted channel, provided it isn't visible to the public from outside and its content complies with subsection (3) — no recreational framing, no consumption imagery, no unapproved products or product names, no whole-flower imagery (photos or illustrations), nothing attractive to children, and nothing depicting activities considered risky under the influence, such as operating a vehicle.

What can a Florida dispensary post on social media under the proposed rule? On its department-approved accounts, posts are limited to the approved trade name and logo, contact information, dispensing locations, hours, products available, and pricing including sales and discounts — and must still comply with the content prohibitions. Paid or sponsored ads require prior department approval.

How long would a dispensary have to comply after the rule is adopted? The proposed text gives an MMTC 180 days from the rule's effective date to discontinue previously approved advertising or marketing that doesn't comply. The emergency rule gave 90 days.

Does this change the July 27 or September 28 Registry rules? No. Those are separate Registry changes affecting card renewals and Registry logins. This rule is about what an MMTC may say and where.

Related reading: Florida dispensary marketing rules: what you can display in-store (the emergency rule, 64ER25-6) · Every date that belongs on your dispensary's Q4 compliance calendar · Florida's Registry login changes September 28 · How digital screen solutions help dispensaries

This article is general information for dispensary operators, not legal advice. It describes Proposed Rule 64-4.227 as published August 24, 2026, and emergency rule 64ER25-6 as published January 2, 2026; a proposed rule can be changed, withdrawn, or challenged before adoption. The emergency rule was itself challenged in 2026 — Trulieve filed suit in March, and a separate administrative challenge was reported — and we have not verified the current status of either proceeding. Confirm current requirements with the OMMU and your counsel before acting.