Pubdate: Mon, 28 Dec 2015
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2015 Las Vegas Review-Journal
Contact: http://www.reviewjournal.com/about/print/press/letterstoeditor.html
Website: http://www.lvrj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/233

USPS AND POT ADS

Agency Should Get Own House in Order

Public support for the legalization of marijuana is on the rise. 
According to a recent Gallup poll, 58 percent of Americans think it 
should be legalized.

That's a 14 percent jump since Gallup polled Americans in 2009, and a 
46 percent jump since Gallup first asked the question in 1969.

Recreational marijuana use is now legal in four states, and close to 
two dozen states have provisions allowing the use of marijuana for 
medical purposes.

Those numbers can be expected to increase as public support for 
marijuana legalization continues to grow, as can the number of 
businesses looking to grow and sell weed to consumers.

It only stands to reason that if more and more businesses are going 
to market pot to consumers, those businesses will need to advertise.

But if what happened in Oregon last month is any indication, 
advertising marijuana might be a little trickier than expected.

As the Washington Post's Lisa Rein reported, in November, the postal 
district in Portland sent a memo to newspaper publishers, informing 
them that it was illegal to run pot ads in their publications and to 
use the U.S. Postal Service to mail papers containing those ads to subscribers.

Despite marijuana being legal in Oregon and a few surrounding states, 
the USPS is a federal entity, and newspapers that run ads for 
marijuana in those states are violating federal law banning the 
advertising of so-called illicit goods.

In response to the memo, Democrats in the state's congressional 
delegation sent an angry letter to postal officials, accusing the 
USPS of being overly rigid and urging them to respect the fact that 
voters in those states support legalized pot.

This is yet another awkward case where state and federal law clash.

As Jazz Shaw at HotAir. com theorizes, officials at the Post Office 
likely consulted with officials at the Justice Department before 
issuing their memo.

Mr. Shaw wrote that if that indeed happened, then it can be safely 
assumed that there are some in D.C. who still want to prosecute cases 
involving marijuana in states where it is now legal.

Mr. Shaw also doubts that the feds will actually go after the 
newspaper owners in question, and that the USPS might just be trying 
to cover its rear end in this case.

So, the U.S. Postal Service - with its fiscal insolvency, out-of-date 
vehicle fleet, shrinking staff, unpaid retiree benefits fund and 
money-losing post offices - is telling newspapers, which are 
struggling themselves, that they can't allow a legal business to 
advertise in their publications if they want to distribute any of 
their newspapers through the mail?

Here's a novel idea: how about the post office gets its own house in 
order before it starts ordering another industry to turn away business?
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom