SHAFT Content Rules and Cannabis SMS
SHAFT — Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco — is the carrier-defined content category that gets filtered or blocked by default. Cannabis is treated as adjacent: not always named in policy, always watched in practice.
Cannabis isn't the 'C' in SHAFT — but carriers act like it is.
SHAFT is the umbrella term for restricted message categories under U.S. wireless carrier rules. Cannabis is not technically a SHAFT category, but in operational reality carriers filter cannabis traffic with similar aggression — controlled-substance language, medical claims, and product imagery all trigger the same downstream behavior.
The difference between a dispensary SMS program that delivers and one that doesn't is usually content discipline, not luck. Specific verbs, slang terms, claim patterns, and link behaviors are scored by carrier filters in real time.
The platform flags risky language in the composer, scores every send for carrier risk before launch, and surfaces per-carrier delivery outcomes so you can iterate without guessing.
Built for cannabis, not generic retail.
Pre-send content scoring
Risky language, medical claims, and SHAFT-adjacent patterns flagged before launch.
Per-carrier outcome reporting
See which carriers accepted, throttled, or blocked each send so you can adapt content per carrier mix.
Compliant copy library
Pre-vetted phrasing that conveys offers without triggering controlled-substance filters.
Link-domain reputation
Shortlinks routed through reputable domains; raw bit.ly and unfamiliar redirectors avoided by default.
Audit trail per message
Every send records the content version, policy checks, and per-carrier outcome.
Imagery and MMS guardrails
MMS content review aligned with carrier policy — product photos handled with the same care as text.
Questions buyers ask before booking.
Is cannabis technically a SHAFT category?+
Not by the letter of carrier policy — SHAFT covers Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco. In practice, cannabis is treated as adjacent and is filtered with similar logic by every major U.S. carrier.
What specific words trigger filtering?+
Filter lists evolve, but controlled-substance terms, dosage-style language, medical claims, and certain slang patterns are consistently risky. The platform maintains an updated risk dictionary and flags matches before send.
Can I include product photos in MMS?+
Yes, with care. Carrier policy and platform-side review apply to imagery the same way they apply to text. We pre-screen MMS assets and flag images that match restricted patterns.
What happens when a message is filtered?+
Worst case, the message is dropped silently and your sender reputation degrades. We surface per-carrier blocked rates so you see filtering in the data — not in the next quarter's revenue.
How do we recover from a SHAFT-related reputation hit?+
Diagnose the content pattern, pause sends to affected carriers, run a remediation campaign on transactional/loyalty content to rebuild reputation, then reintroduce promotional sends with revised copy. Most programs recover in 2–4 weeks.
Are dry-language compliant offers actually effective?+
Yes — frequently more effective than aggressive copy, because they reach more handsets. We can show before/after data from operators who tightened content and saw revenue per send increase.
Audit your SMS content against carrier filters.
Send us your last 10 campaigns. We'll flag the risky patterns, show the impact, and propose compliant rewrites.