Michigan Report: Cannabis Billboards Rise, But Legislators Want Them To Go Down

By Maureen Meehan

Cannabis billboards appear along Michigan highways and back roads, most likely to the delight of the several million adults in the state who voted in November 2018, with an indisputable margin of 56:44 to legalize the plant.

That being said, some state lawmakers are trying to pull them down, even though the billboards are regulated and all have been approved by the Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA), which ensures that their content doesn’t come across as too stoned. In fact, photos of cannabis products cannot be displayed on billboards in Michigan, Benzinga’s home state.

Photo by Photo copyright SNWEB.ORG Photography, LLC./Getty Images

Pharmacy owners are pissed off. They say they need the advertising more than ever and are willing to pay for it.

“I would say that 50-60% of our budget is currently on billboards. It’s probably one of the biggest and easiest ways for us to advertise right now, ”said Tom Farrell, founder of Kalamazoo-based pharmacy The Refinery.

RELATED: Michigan is funding two major medical cannabis research projects for $ 20 million

Farrell told a local CBS News channel that Michigan pot shops have been forced to advertise on billboards due to strict regulation of ads on almost every other platform, including social media.

“It would hit us pretty badly,” said Farrell. “I mean, it would probably take away one of our greatest forms of communication for our customers.”

Applicable law states that marijuana products cannot be advertised unless the company that advertises them shows that 70% of the audience for the advert is adults.

But nobody really knows how this is supposed to work MRA Managing Director Andrew Brisbo tries. “They have to get reliable data and be able to prove it to us, so they have to show their demographic studies to show that the target audience is who is seeing these advertisements,” Brisbo said.

History repeats itself? Not quite

In April 1970, President Richard Nixon signed a law banning cigarette advertising on television and radio after alarming health studies (as early as 1939) surfaced linking tobacco to cancer. There are no such studies on cannabis today.

And it is not for lack of experimentation. Government agencies, backed by countless, sometimes hysterical media reports over the years, have made all kinds of anti-cannabis, unscientific claims, from Reefer Madness to the most recent misinformation that cannabis is a “gateway drug”. which even the National Institute on Drug Abuse refuted.

Add photo of weed via Unsplash

The majority have access to cannabis dispensaries in Michigan

Notwithstanding the billboards, Michigan residents have far greater access to cannabis dispensaries than the rest of the country, according to a new report.

“Over 80% of Michigan residents now live within a 20-minute drive of an adult retail store,” said Brian Peterson, director of public policy and economic analysis for the Michigan-based Anderson Economic Group (AEG), which conducted the study.

RELATED: Michigan Cannabis Sales Nearly $ 1 Billion In First Year Of Adult Sales

“Our analysis shows that retailers have established themselves nationwide to meet consumer demand for cannabis.”

Though the report also found that 70% of the marijuana consumed in Michigan still comes from sources other than retail stores. “Many consumers are still choosing options outside of retail,” said Peterson, “but we anticipate that the growth in retail stores could turn some consumers into retail customers.”

Despite illicit cannabis sales, Michigan still managed to generate substantial cannabis sales: Michigan cannabis sales reached record highs ($ 3.2 billion, according to AEG) in 2020 and are well on their way to potentially that amount this year to double.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.