Clarence Cocroft said the state’s law blocking him from advertising his dispensary is a violation of the First Amendment.
OLIVE BRANCH, Miss — The owner of an Olive Branch, Mississippi, medical marijuana dispensary is taking legal action against the Mississippi Department of Health, suing them to challenge advertising restrictions he says are in violation of the First Amendment.
Clarence Cocroft, owner of Tru Source Medical Dispensary in Olive Branch, said he’s filing the federal lawsuit to address an advertising ban that’s “severely limiting” his company’s growth.
Cocroft opened Tru Source, the state’s first Black-owned dispensary, on March 16, 2023, a year after Mississippi’s law legalizing medical marijuana came into effect. In the months since, he’s struggled to find new customers due to Mississippi’s strict ban on advertising for dispensaries.
“Some people don’t know Mississippi has medical marijuana, and even if they do know about it, they might not know that Tru Source exists right here in Olive Branch,” Cocroft said. “It’s simply unfair that every other legal business in Mississippi is allowed to advertise, while I have to rely on word of mouth.”
According to the regulations, nearly all forms of
