Cresco Labs Establishes Comprehensive Standards for Responsible Advertising & Marketing of Cannabis to Consumers

As a responsible cannabis operator, Cresco Labs is committed to ensuring its advertising and marketing efforts are directed only to those above the legal consumption age and carried out in a socially appropriate manner

Cresco Labs (CSE:CL) (OTCQX:CRLBF) ("Cresco" or "the Company"), one of the largest vertically integrated multistate cannabis operators in the United States, announced the launch of the U.S. cannabis industry's most comprehensive advertising and marketing code with guiding principles to ensure that Cresco Labs always markets and promotes its brands and products responsibly. As an industry leader, Cresco holds itself to the highest ethical standards and is dedicated to building a culture of responsible consumption and fostering continued consumer trust, education and confidence in cannabis offerings. This code provides guidance on commercial communications to prevent underage appeal and helps advertisers like Cresco make appropriate claims surrounding cannabis' benefits. In addition, these standards offer best practices for the development of consumer-facing promotional events and merchandising.

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The creation of Cresco Labs' Responsible Advertising and Marketing Standards (RAMS) is another step that supports the Company's mission to normalize, professionalize and revolutionize the U.S. cannabis industry. Cresco's intention for these standards is to encourage partnership with other cannabis companies around responsible marketing, professionalize the advertising practices within the industry and create a robust marketplace of quality products. Cresco Labs' Responsible Advertising and Marketing Standards (RAMS) is available online at https://www.crescolabs.com/brands/#rams .

"Since the Company's inception in 2013, we have been guided by a vision to bring a level of professionalism, ethics and hard-nosed business discipline to this emerging product category and industry, and it has been our mission ever since to normalize, professionalize and revolutionize cannabis," said Charlie Bachtell, Cresco Labs' CEO and Co-founder. "That approach has guided us through seven years of incredible growth. As our house of branded products, retail brand and overall market reach grows, and cannabis becomes an important part of people's everyday wellness, there is a need to advertise, market and communicate with the public. However, we must do so in a responsible and compliant manner that is disciplined, ethical and fact-based and upholds the high standards of conduct on which the company was founded. As we focus on building the most important cannabis company in the U.S., these standards will define how we conduct ourselves in our everyday marketing and advertising efforts, hold us accountable in all our work in this area, and hopefully serve as a north star for all other operators within our industry."

Cannabis is currently legal for adult use in 11 states and medicinally in 33 states, with many more discussing some form of legalization. Legalization began less than 20 years ago, and now cannabis represents one of the fastest-growing consumer product categories in the U.S. At present, there are no federally issued regulations for the cannabis industry that typically exist in other emerging categories. Compliance to regulations is an entirely state-by-state exercise, and this holds true for standards for marketing and communications. Each state that has legalized medical or recreational cannabis often has its own unique requirements. Cresco Labs established RAMS as a complement to existing state regulations, and compliance with this code is mandatory for all its marketing, sales, promotion and communications efforts, including both traditional and digital media.

"We are fortunate to be able to work in an industry that impacts so many people, and with that great opportunity comes the responsibility to demonstrate best-practice leadership in the area of advertising and marketing," said Greg Butler, Chief Commercial Officer at Cresco Labs. "Similar industries to cannabis—alcohol, healthcare, pharmaceutical and food—have self-imposed, voluntary rules that are followed by some of the most iconic brand marketers in the world. As a leader in this industry, we want to lay the foundation for the U.S. cannabis industry, which today is demonstrating tremendous potential of where it will be in the next couple of years. As more cannabis operators build brands and introduce new products, these standards will help expand the quality of marketing from the industry and support the use of new advertising mediums and channels."

Cresco Labs is deeply committed to creating positive change in the advertising and marketing of cannabis to consumers. The Company encourages other cannabis organizations to adopt and build upon these guiding principles to help build a responsible cannabis industry together.

About Cresco Labs:

Cresco Labs is one of the largest vertically-integrated multi-state cannabis operators in the United States. Cresco is built to become the most important company in the cannabis industry by combining the most strategic geographic footprint with one of the leading distribution platforms in North America. Employing a consumer-packaged goods ("CPG") approach to cannabis, Cresco's house of brands is designed to meet the needs of all consumer segments and includes some of the most recognized and trusted national brands including Cresco, Remedi, High Supply, Reserve, Good News and Mindy's Chef Led Artisanal Edibles created by James Beard Award-winning chef Mindy Segal. Sunnyside, Cresco's national dispensary brand, is a wellness-focused retailer designed to build trust, education and convenience for both existing and new cannabis consumers. Recognizing that the cannabis industry is poised to become one of the leading job creators in the country, Cresco provides the industry's first national comprehensive Social Equity and Educational Development (SEED) program designed to ensure that all members of society have the skills, knowledge and opportunity to work in and own businesses in the cannabis industry. Learn more about Cresco Labs at www.crescolabs.com .

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, ‘may,' ‘will,' ‘should,' ‘could,' ‘would,' ‘expects,' ‘plans,' ‘anticipates,' ‘believes,' ‘estimates,' ‘projects,' ‘predicts,' ‘potential' or ‘continue' or the negative of those forms or other comparable terms. The Company's forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to those risks discussed under "Risk Factors" in the company's CSE Listing Statement filed with SEDAR; and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Because of these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. No assurances are given as to the future trading price or trading volumes of Cresco's shares, nor as to the Company's financial performance in future financial periods. The Company does not intend to update any of these factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the Company's forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, any future event or otherwise. Except as otherwise indicated, this press release speaks as of the date hereof. The distribution of this press release does not imply that there has been no change in the affairs of the Company after the date hereof or create any duty or commitment to update or supplement any information provided in this press release or otherwise.

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Media:
Jason Erkes, Cresco Labs
Chief Communications Officer
press@crescolabs.com

Investors:
Jake Graves
Senior Analyst, Investor Relations
investors@crescolabs.com

For general Cresco Labs inquiries:
312-929-0993
info@crescolabs.com