Brands selling intoxicating hemp products such as Delta-8 THC are using memes, cartoons and pop-culture references to promote their products on Instagram, while rarely providing health or age warnings, according to a new study published in Addiction.

Researchers analysed 837 Instagram posts published between February 2024 and February 2025 by nine leading brands selling products containing intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids, including Delta-8 THC, HHC and THC-P. Previous research has found that cannabis marketing on social media can increase positive perceptions of cannabis and its use, while youth-oriented visuals may be particularly appealing to younger audiences.

Nearly half, or 49.6%, of the posts contained youth-oriented content, including memes, cartoons and pop-culture references. Recreational marketing was also widespread, appearing in 52% of posts and often promoting effects such as relaxation and happiness or showing products in everyday social and leisure settings. By contrast, health and age warnings appeared in just 2.5% of posts.

Marketing approaches also varied by product type. Beverage posts were particularly likely to use recreational themes, at 84.3%, while 56.9% contained youth-oriented themes. Youth-oriented content was also found in 53.5% of posts promoting cartridges and vapes and 49.2% of those promoting edible products.

“These findings show how brands selling intoxicating hemp products target youth audiences with dangerously few safeguards,” said study co-author Alisa A. Padon, research director of Getting it Right from the Start (GIRFTS), a programme of the Public Health Institute. She called for maintaining the federal prohibition scheduled to take effect in November and for stronger standards governing social media marketing to young people.

The researchers examined posts from nine brands: CannaAid, Cycling Frog, Delta Extrax, Elyxr, Fly Urb, Hometown Hero, Koi CBD, Mood and Official Canna River. Each post was coded for factors including product descriptions and imagery, recreational appeals, youth-oriented cues, brand positioning, health claims, and health and age warnings. The authors said the findings add to concerns about the rapid growth of intoxicating hemp products in the United States amid reports of poisonings, emergency department visits and psychotic episodes.

The policy debate dates to the 2018 Farm Bill, whose definition of hemp created a loophole that allowed intoxicating hemp-derived products to proliferate outside many of the safeguards governing state-regulated cannabis. Congress moved to close that loophole in 2025 by passing Public Law 119-37. The law narrows the federal definition of hemp, caps the amount of THC allowed per package and is scheduled to prohibit affected intoxicating hemp products beginning November 12, 2026.

That prohibition, however, now faces efforts to delay or replace it. The Senate has passed legislation, still awaiting House approval, that would postpone the restrictions until December 11, 2026. Separately, H.R. 9830 would replace the prohibition with a regulatory framework allowing higher THC levels and certain synthesised forms of THC. GIRFTS director Lynn Silver said the study demonstrates why the November prohibition should remain in place, arguing that replacing it with a more permissive framework could create a federally legal intoxicating THC market outside both state-regulated cannabis systems and states that prohibit cannabis.

More information: Kathryn La Capria et al, Marketing features of derived intoxicating cannabinoid product brands on Instagram: A content analysis, Addiction. DOI: 10.1111/add.70576

Journal information: Addiction Provided by Public Health Institute