California Governor Gavin Newsom rejects a veto on cannabis billboards

On Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 1302, which would have allowed billboards for cannabis to be advertised on most California highways and interstates, and issued a veto message explaining his reasoning. The governor stated that California’s adult cannabis use law has built-in safeguards to prevent teenagers from being exposed to cannabis-related advertisements and that he does not want to change that.

“When voters passed Proposition 64, they put in place robust protections that protected youth from exposure to cannabis and cannabis advertisements,” Newsom wrote. “Among other things, voters have completely banned the advertising of cannabis on posters on all interstate highways and on all state highways that cross the California border. Allowing advertising on these busy roads could expose young passengers to cannabis advertising. “

The governor also stated that it would be inconsistent with the original intentions of Proposition 64 to display billboards for drivers and underage passengers.

“AB 1302 would weaken the protection adopted in Proposition 64. California can refine and advance its regulation of cannabis while remaining true to the will of the electorate, and I will continue to work with the author to find that balance. For these reasons I am sending AB 1302 back without my signature. ”

Rep. Bill Quirk, who represents Union City, said the bill was necessary to help the state’s legal cannabis industry, which is burdened by high taxes and cannabis business bans in many California cities.

“We haven’t done enough to help the legal cannabis industry flourish,” Quirk said, as reported by the Associated Press. “The legal cannabis industry has very limited and narrow marketing opportunities available. Eliminating their ability to promote their legitimate business hundreds of miles of road only helps the illegal market. “

California’s battle for cannabis billboards

The battle for billboards related to cannabis has been in flux since the beginning of the year – when it comes to the proximity of billboards on federal highways or highways. In 2019, lawmakers clarified the rules to determine where cannabis billboards are allowed and banned them within 15 miles of the California borders.

On January 11, 2021, in the Farmer v. Bureau of Cannabis Control (Bureau) & Lori Ajax case, the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court ruled that Section 5040 (b) (3) of the Bureau of Cannabis Controls Regulations invalidated the legislation is not authorized to do so.

Section 5040 (b) (3), which prohibited only billboard advertising within 15 miles of the California border on a freeway or freeway crossing the California border, was repealed by the January ruling. Since then, under Business and Professions Code Section 26152 (d), a licensee may not post any advertising or marketing on a billboard or similar advertising device on an interstate or state highway that crosses the California border.

It did so after Governor Newsom passed a bill expanding the hemp industry in California by legalizing smokable hemp and hemp-infused products. He also passed a law requiring hospitals and other health care facilities to allow terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana.

Other states have taken various approaches to controlling cannabis billboards, in some cases banning images or banning them from certain areas.

A bill banning cannabis advertising on billboards within 300 meters of schools, daycare centers, public parks and churches was not approved in Arizona. In this case, lawmakers were concerned about passing a law that would give the alcohol industry an indirect benefit.

In Michigan, cannabis billboards are strictly regulated and must be approved by the marijuana regulator.

Back in 2018, a billboard in Utah urged voters to approve medical marijuana by quoting Mormon scriptures and appealing to some voters in the state.