Pubdate: Sun, 21 Sep 2014
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Page: D2

POT INDUSTRY BATTLING STONER STEREOTYPES

DENVER- 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, 
advising people to use the drug responsibly and warning 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 fearmongering and insulting marijuana users," 
said Mason Tvert, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, the 
nation's biggest pot-policy advocacy group.

The group unveiled a billboard last week 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 NewYork 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.

"To me, that's not really any different than Nancy Reagan saying 
'Just Say No,' " said Tim Cullen, co-owner of four marijuana 
dispensaries and a critic of the "lab rat" campaign, referring to the 
former first lady's effort to combat drug use.

A spokesman for the state Health Department welcomed the industry's 
ads, and defended the "lab rat" campaign. "It's been effective in 
starting a conversation about potential risks to youth from 
marijuana," Mark Salley said.

The dueling campaigns come at a time when the industry is concerned 
about inexperienced consumers using edible pot. The popularity of 
edibles surprised some in the industry when legal marijuana retail 
sales began in January.

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.

The headlines, including Dowd's experience, have been enough for the 
industry to promote moderation with edible pot.

"I think the word has gotten out that you need to be careful with 
edibles," said Steve Fox, head of the Denver-based Council for 
Responsible Cannabis Regulation.

The group organized the "First Time 5" campaign, which cautions that 
new users shouldn't eat more than 5 milligrams of marijuana's 
psychoactive ingredient, or half a suggested serving .

The campaign warns users that edible pot can be much more potent than 
the marijuana they're smoking - and that the pot-infused treats on 
store shelves are much stronger than homemade brownies they may recall eating.

The ads tackle antidrug messages from years past.

Inside pictures of old TV sets are images from historic ads. Along 
with the fried-egg one is an image from one ad of a father finding 
his son's drug stash and demanding to know who taught him to use it.

The kid answers: "You, all right! I learned it by watching you!"

The print ad concludes, "Decades of fearmongering and condescending 
anti-marijuana ads have not taught us anything about the substance or 
made anyone safer."

Marijuana activists plan to spend $75,000 on the campaign by the end 
of the year.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom