New York cannabis rules, explained for operators

Can I use health claims on my dispensary menu?

Checked against OCM pages and the regulation text on September 6, 2026.

What the regulation says

Part 129 lists prohibited advertising practices in section 129.3. The health-claims item reads:

"(6) be false or misleading, including making any health claims or a representation that use of cannabis has curative or therapeutic effects;"

9 NYCRR 129.3(a)(6), effective March 22, 2023. Read the section.

Two neighbors in the same list matter for menus. Item (a)(22) bars "medical symbols that might reasonably lead a consumer to think the product is a medical product." Item (a)(11) bars any statement that cannabis products "are safe because they are regulated by the Board or Office." Source: 9 NYCRR 129.3(a)(22) and (a)(11).

The Office's guidance restates the rule in operator terms: "Advertisements cannot include medical or wellness claims, including but not limited to, any claims or representations that the use of cannabis has curative or therapeutic effects." Source: OCM Part 129 Guidance.

What counts as a health claim

Part 129 takes its definitions from Part 128. Section 128.1 defines a health claim as any claim "on the retail package or marketing layer or in the marketing or advertising of a cannabis product, that expressly or by implication" characterizes "the relationship of any cannabis product to a disease or health-related condition or symptom." Source: 9 NYCRR 128.1.

Three parts of that definition do the work.

• "Expressly or by implication." A claim does not have to name a disease. Describing a product with a word a customer would read as a symptom or condition is enough. Source: 9 NYCRR 128.1, definition of health claim.
• "Health-related condition or symptom." The definition is not limited to diseases. Sleep, pain, appetite, stress, and mood are conditions or symptoms in ordinary reading. Source: 9 NYCRR 128.1, definition of health claim.
• "In the marketing or advertising." The definition covers ads, and the Office's guidance puts menus in that category. Source: 9 NYCRR 128.1; OCM Part 129 Guidance.

The Office's guidance adds "wellness claims" to the prohibited category alongside medical claims. The regulation text uses "health claims." Whether the Office treats every wellness word, such as "relaxing" or "uplifting," as a health claim could not be confirmed from its published guidance. UNVERIFIED Source: OCM Part 129 Guidance; 9 NYCRR 129.3(a)(6).

Why menus are covered

Section 128.1 defines an advertisement as "any publication, video, use of a brand representative, or any other form of media for the purpose of causing, directly or indirectly, the purchase or use of a brand or cannabis product," and its list of examples includes websites, social media, print media, and digital communications. Source: 9 NYCRR 128.1, definition of advertisement.

The Office's Part 129 guidance closes the question: "Menus are considered advertisements." The same guidance says retailers may include product prices, potency, and images on menus. Source: OCM Part 129 Guidance.

Consumer education material that a retailer writes itself is also an advertisement under the guidance. Material published by the Office is not. A strain guide or a "how to choose" card you print is inside the rule. Source: OCM Part 129 Guidance.

Common violation patterns

The patterns below are drawn from the regulation text and the definition of health claim. They are not a list the Office has published. Source: 9 NYCRR 129.3(a); 9 NYCRR 128.1.

The last row deserves a note. Section 129.3(b) makes a licensee responsible for third-party use of its brand in advertising that breaks the Part. The reverse also applies on your menu: when you publish a brand's description, it is your advertisement. Source: 9 NYCRR 129.3(b).

How to check your own descriptions

1. Export every product description on your menu, including category and filter names, into one list.
2. Search the list for condition and symptom words: sleep, insomnia, pain, ache, anxiety, stress, depression, nausea, appetite, inflammation, migraine, PTSD, and any disease name. Each hit is a candidate under the 128.1 definition.
3. Search for treatment verbs: helps, treats, relieves, eases, soothes, heals, cures, calms, reduces. Each hit is a candidate under 129.3(a)(6).
4. Look at icons and images. Remove any symbol a customer might read as medical, per 129.3(a)(22).
5. Rewrite each candidate to describe the product, not its effect on a condition. Strain, form, cannabinoid content, terpenes, flavor, and size are all descriptive facts. The Office's guidance allows prices, potency, and images on a menu.
6. Save the before-and-after list with the date. Section 129.2(h) requires records showing your advertising meets the Part, and the review itself is part of that record. Source: 9 NYCRR 129.2(h); OCM Part 129 Guidance.

What this means for your store

• Your menu is an ad. Every product description is subject to 129.3, per the Office's guidance.
• Any word that ties a product to a condition or symptom is a health claim under 128.1, whether or not it names a disease.
• Effect categories on an online menu are the most common place a health claim hides. Check filter and tag names, not only descriptions.
• Descriptions written by the brand are yours once they are on your menu. Edit them before they go live.
• Facts about the product are allowed. Prices, potency, form, and images can stay.
• Keep a dated copy of each review. It is the evidence 129.2(h) asks you to have.

Sources

• 9 NYCRR 128.1, Definitions (Cornell LII)
• 9 NYCRR 129.2, Adult-Use Marketing and Advertising General Requirements (Cornell LII)
• 9 NYCRR 129.3, Adult-Use Marketing and Advertising Prohibitions (Cornell LII)
• OCM, Part 129: Marketing and Advertising Guidance