This medicinal cannabis website bends the rules. Take our quiz to see why
- Written by The Conversation
When the Queensland Dolphins ran onto the field in mid-April 2024, the rugby league team’s jerseys bore the logo of Alternaleaf – a “plant medicine” clinic.
Earlier that week, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) had commenced Federal Court proceedings against Alternaleaf’s parent company, alleging 226 other advertising offences.
By the next game, players had taped over the logo.
The law is clear. Advertising prescription medicines directly to consumers in Australia is prohibited – including on football jerseys, websites, social media, and on posters or banners.
Any promotion of medicinal cannabis products to the public – including euphemisms such as “plant medicine” – is also a breach.
But suppliers and prescribers of medicinal cannabis are flouting the rules.
A 2025 study analysed 54 Australian medicinal cannabis provider websites. The authors found nearly half were violating at least two TGA guidelines.
Common violations included using cannabis imagery, unsubstantiated health claims, and patient testimonials.
Researchers also identified self-assessment tools that may “coach” patients on qualifying conditions – with some clinics positioning access as fast and hassle-free.
One company ran more than 170 social media ads in a single month, many reaching users as young as 18.
Take our quiz
Here’s a mock-up of a medicinal cannabis website. It’s fictional, but it highlights the many ways clinics can breach laws or guidelines designed to prohibit direct-to-consumer advertising of medicinal cannabis.
It’s based on the types of issues researchers have documented, past TGA infringement notices and current websites promoting medicinal cannabis.
Some breaches are more obvious than others.
Let’s get started
Click (or touch) the elements of the website below you think breach laws or TGA guidelines about medicinal cannabis promotion.
But to keep you on your toes, we’ve thrown in some red herrings – elements of the website that are actually OK.
Can you spot all ten breaches?
Well done if you found all ten breaches in our fictional website.
But if you can spot them, why are so many medicinal cannabis clinics, social media posts and traditional media accused of breaking the advertising rules?
Since 2023, the TGA has issued more than A$2.3 million in fines for medicinal cannabis advertising breaches. It has commenced three Federal Court proceedings. None have yet resulted in a judgement.
In July 2025, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) said it was concerned about emerging business models that appear to use “aggressive and sometimes misleading advertising” to target vulnerable people.
Some clinics and prescribers churning through scripts
Ahpra told the ABC it had taken action against 57 practitioners and is investigating 60 more. Concerns include consultation times of between “a few seconds and a few minutes”. Some prescribers wrote more than 10,000 scripts in six months.
The agency and the TGA are now sharing prescribing data to identify outliers – even without receiving complaints.
