Marijuana advertising lies, so where’s the outrage?

Billboards across the country advertise marijuana with false health claims that would never be allowed for tobacco or alcohol.  Big, bold and high (no pun intended), these signs help to sell the drug — while being seen by thousands of children.

Seen in Massachusetts

Why can’t state regulators stop these assaults on the public that attempt to portray weed as the road to a long life and better health?

Our answer: the cannabis industry which has legions of lobbyists in state governments — routinely prevails against sensible legislation. Only the states of Vermont and Montana ban billboard advertising. Most states struggle to regulate marijuana because the industry overpowers legislators with incredible promises.

Portland, Oregon

This sampling of billboards from around the country proves that the cannabis industry gets away with “murder” in legalization states.  It also proves that the ganjapreneurs, or so-called cannabis “doctors,” make fraudulent claims.  

Las Vegas

Quack Medicine and Phony Doctors

No ethical doctor would claim that cannabis is the road to a long and healthy life.  It’s about as medical as 100-proof alcohol.  Heavy, long-term cannabis users, like smokers and heavy drinkers, shorten their lives.   Even when some choose cannabis for palliative care, the drug doesn’t do anything comparable to real medicine.  Many with cancer try cannabis and reject it. Washington state

The “medical” marijuana industry’s false advertising began when they adopted a green cross, a pharmaceutical sign used in Europe.  The gimmick continued by using the term “dispensary, ” which means a clinic, or a room where medicine is dispensed.  Marijuana is numbness, not medicine.   Chicago in 2021

The pot industry understands addiction marketing.   In Chicago, 2021, Cresco Labs ran billboards repeating the word, EVERYDAY several times.   Of course, a public outcry followed.  

Marketing sex

After public outcry, an advertisement for cannabis-infused drinks near O’Hare Airport was replaced with something less sexual.

More recently, drivers into Chicago and O’ Hare Airport were greeted with a large billboard exclaiming that cannabis-infused drinks are better than SEX.  Big bold letters and hot red on a white background were used to capture attention.

A public outcry followed, with complaints written in the Chicago newspapers.  We’re happy to see that the sign was recently replaced,  but it still advertises for cannabis-infused drinks.

In Washington state, signs of pretty young women lure people into a pot shop called “Green Lady Marijuana.”

What about the Freebies?  

In Colorado, one billboard announced Free Dabs.   

Even worse, an activist group in Washington, DC,  gave out free marijuana with COVID shots.  The program was called “Joints for Jabs.”   Washington, DC, bans pot shops but allows gifting.

Most despicable are the advertising campaigns trying to get parents, and particularly women, to use weed.   Based on the number of child abuse deaths caused by pot-using parents and the knowledge that pregnant women must not use cannabis, these promoters must be stopped.

We may hate the cannabis industry, but give them credit for being some of the biggest con artists of our era — better than Big Tobacco and the opioid industry.

Have any complaints ever worked? 

Yes, a Colorado store with a mural of Cookie Monster from Sesame Street was forced to take it down after Sesame Street sued.  

Cookie Monster with pot cookies in Colorado, 2015.  A lawsuit forced the mural to be removed.

In California, a father complained the pot shops weren’t following the promise of Prop 64 not to advertise on interstate highways. He sued and won.

Editor’s Note:  Many of these signs are no longer visible, but the article is meant to alert the public of cannabis industry tactics.

COVID, ZOOM and how medical marijuana hijacked my twins’ brains

My twin daughters were honors students and athletes. They entered senior year of high school in 2019, and earned full scholarships to college.  They were so talented and bright.

Now they’re 21. They dropped out of college, moved a few hours away and broke off relationships with the family. 

They began using medical marijuana when they were 18. Their behavior changed completely.  

COVID hit in the winter of 2020.  Lockdowns began. Essentially the second half of their senior year was remote. The girls were isolated from everything, and they claimed to be depressed. One had a new boyfriend, who —  I later found out — was buying and selling illicit drugs. By all accounts, he seemed like a perfectly normal good kid and you would not expect it from him. Continue reading COVID, ZOOM and how medical marijuana hijacked my twins’ brains

Letter to DEA and DOJ opposes rescheduling cannabis

A national group of 104 parents and victims wrote to the DEA Administrator and the Attorney General, asking that cannabis not be rescheduled. The greatest number of people signing the letter were in California and Colorado; many asked to sign the letter after it had been mailed on December 2nd.  (A bipartisan group of former states attorneys also sent separately a letter to the DEA and DOJ; SAM put out a press release about the letter.)   Here’s the content of the letter:

Administrator Anne Milgram
Drug Enforcement Agency
8701 Morrissette Drive
Springfield, VA 22152

Honorable Merrick Garland                                                                                         US Department of Justice                                                                                         950 Pennsylvania Avenue                                                                                 Washington, DC 20530 – 0001

Dear Attorney General Garland and Administrator Milgram:

Everyone signing onto this letter has a personal or familial story of permanent damage caused by cannabis (marijuana). For some of us, a loved one died as a direct result of cannabis use. For others, cannabis brought unfathomable damage to mental or physical health. Others were in car crashes caused by THC. For most of us, it was because of the industrial strength pot of today, but we include on this list those harmed by the old-fashioned marijuana of the 20th century. Besides those who lost their lives, there are those living with chronic conditions like permanent Cannabis-Induced Psychosis (Schizophrenia) or Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome.

We are Victims of Marijuana even if we did not die from it. We also speak for victims who find speaking out on these issues is too painful.  A small number of the signatories have children who died from fentanyl or another drug, but blame marijuana for starting the loved one on drug use and/or addiction. Continue reading Letter to DEA and DOJ opposes rescheduling cannabis

From PotHead to Pot Educator

By Bart Bright

I once was pure Libertarian, an ally of Dennis Peron, and especially a Libertarian when it came to marijuana. Here’s how I transformed from a PotHead to a passionate Pot Educator.  My love of children makes this urgent.  ……

 It was in the 1970s, growing up in Marin County, that I became a pothead.  I went to college in San Francisco. My roommates and I grew pot in our apartment. It wasn’t so unusual at the time.  Continue reading From PotHead to Pot Educator

Bursting the Bubble of Marijuana Hype