(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- U.S. WEED CHANNEL (USWC), the first federally certified cannabis lifestyle network streaming globally, today announced the publication of its groundbreaking research report, The 2025 Cannabis Media Transparency & Advertising Report - a comprehensive analysis detailing how advertising restrictions, algorithmic suppression, and media consolidation have structurally undermined cannabis businesses for more than a decade.

The report reveals that cannabis brands are routinely forced to pay 2–4× more for advertising reach than comparable mainstream industries, while receiving dramatically less visibility due to platform bans, brand-safety filters, and outdated stigma that still shapes policy and media narratives.

“At a time when the cannabis sector is struggling to survive, clarity is no longer optional - it's a lifeline,” said Madicyn Marinaro, VP of Corporate Strategy & Communications at USWC and the lead researcher behind the report.“For years, operators believed low margins and oversupply were the core issues. But our analysis shows the real crisis is informational: the entire industry is being governed by scarcity created through prohibition-era narratives that never evolved.”

Key findings include:

Cannabis brands pay more for every unit of attention due to restrictions on programmatic advertising, search visibility, and mainstream distribution.

Major cannabis trade publishers monetize scarcity, not scale - generating significantly less reach than comparable B2B media while charging disproportionately high CPMs.

Algorithmic brand-safety systems treat cannabis like a high-risk category, suppressing content visibility even in fully legal markets.

Legacy stigma continues to shape regulation, creating a feedback loop where fear-based narratives justify restrictions that limit truthful education and patient access.

USWC's report also introduces a structural framework:“Datafied Prohibition”

Datafied Prohibition describes how cannabis prohibition has evolved into a digital and regulatory ecosystem where compliance systems, platform policies, and media economics recreate the same disparities once enforced by criminalization.

"This research confirms decades of inequity that USWC was designed to completely disrupt,” said Shane Doull, Founder & CEO of U.S. Weed Channel.“Brands aren't failing because of the product, lack of desire, or bad management - they're failing because the only marketing options left them spiraling in an inequitable ecosystem designed to make success a pipe-dream.”

A roadmap for industry repair:

The report does more than diagnose the problem - it outlines scalable solutions, including:

FAST/CTV cannabis-safe media distribution models

Transparent advertising ecosystems through the newly launched Cannabis Council for Advertising Transparency (CCAT)

New frameworks for audience reach and brand storytelling

Strategies for mainstream normalization and public-trust rebuilding

USWC will begin hosting industry webinars, investor briefings, and advertiser workshops powered through the U.S. Weed Channel App, giving businesses practical tools to navigate - and finally overcome - the structural forces limiting cannabis visibility.

About U.S. WEED CHANNEL (USWC):

U.S. Weed Channel is the first federally certified global FAST/CTV network focused on cannabis lifestyle, education, and entertainment. USWC provides compliant video advertising solutions across linear streaming, on-demand content, and mobile distribution. With its research division and forthcoming CCAT initiative, USWC is committed to rebuilding transparency, restoring trust, and reshaping how the world sees cannabis.

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