Pubdate: Thu, 18 Sep 2014
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Page: A8

POT INDUSTRY FIGHTS STONER STEREOTYPES

DENVER (AP) - Tired of Cheech & Chong pot jokes and ominous antidrug 
campaigns, the marijuana industry and activists are starting an ad 
blitz in Colorado aimed at promoting moderation and the safe 
consumption of pot.

To get their message across, they are skewering some of the old Drug 
War-era ads that focused on the fears of marijuana, including the 
famous "This is your brain on drugs" fried-egg ad from the 1980s.

They are planning posters, brochures, billboards and magazine ads to 
caution consumers to use the drug responsibly and warn tourists and 
first-timers about the potential to get sick from accidentally eating 
too much medical-grade pot.

"So far, every campaign designed to educate the public about 
marijuana has relied on fear-mongering and insulting marijuana 
users," said Mason Tvert, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, 
the nation's biggest pot-policy advocacy group.

The MPP plans to unveil a billboard on Wednesday on a west Denver 
street where many pot shops are located that shows a woman slumped in 
a hotel room with the tagline "Don't let a candy bar ruin your vacation."

It's an allusion to Maureen Dowd, a New York Times columnist who got 
sick from eating part of a pot-infused candy bar on a visit to write about pot.

The campaign is a direct response to the state's post-legalization 
marijuana-education efforts.

One of them is intended to prevent stoned driving and shows men 
zoning out while trying to play basketball, light a grill or hang a 
television. Many in the industry said the ads showed stereotypical 
stoners instead of average adults.

Even more concerning to activists is a youth-education campaign that 
relies on a human-sized cage and the message, "Don't Be a Lab Rat," 
along with warnings about pot and developing brains.

The dueling campaigns come at a time when the industry is concerned 
about inexperienced consumers using edible pot. Edible pot products 
have been blamed for at least one death, of a college student who 
jumped to his death in Denver in March after consuming six times the 
recommended dose of edible marijuana.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom