The New Faces Of Weed: Meet The Cannabis Content Creators Doing What Big Brands Can’t

For years, cannabis companies have been locked out of traditional advertising. Federal law, platform restrictions and lingering stigma created a near-total blackout for mainstream marketing. But in that silence, a new kind of voice emerged. Today, the people shaping cannabis culture aren’t executives or regulators. They’re creators.

As of 2024, the U.S. cannabis industry is valued at $38.5 billion, with projections pushing it to $76.4 billion by 2030. Yet it remains largely barred from conventional ad lanes. That’s where creators step in.

Meanwhile, the creator economy has exploded. TikTok and Instagram each have nearly 2 billion users, and the global influencer market was valued at $24 billion in 2024. Cannabis creators didn’t just ride that wave; they helped shape it.

They’re not just shifting perceptions. They’re building new audiences, unlocking markets and forming multilingual communities. From the U.S. to Latin America, these educators, entertainers and entrepreneurs are redefining the plant, and influencing the future of legalization, normalization and innovation in the process.

In most industries, brands tell the story. In cannabis, it’s the creators.

The path to monetize has been littered with bans (sometimes explicit, sometimes covert) and demonetization. But creators responded by building community-first economies: podcasts, newsletters, product lines, consulting businesses, all while brands clung to compliance. They didn’t just pivot. They created a new lane.

They are educators, law guides, storytellers and harm-reduction advocates, welding humor into policy, science and lived experience. Their platforms often rival the scale and engagement of traditional brands.

Read the full article at Forbes