Denver Snuffing Out Marijuana Billboards

Pot sign-spinners annoy city council
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 14, 2012 8:23 AM CDT
Denver Snuffing Out Marijuana Billboards
Sidewalk ads outside a west Denver medical marijuana dispensary advertise low prices and "Clones Galore!"   (AP Photo/Kristen Wyatt)

The medical marijuana market in Denver is a little too competitive for the city council's liking. The council has voted 13-0 to ban the psychedelic billboards, sidewalk sign-twirlers, windshield leaflets, and other methods of outdoor advertising used by the city's many marijuana dispensaries, reports the Denver Post. Radio, television, and print ads will still be allowed, but they will have to mention that their wares are "for registered Colorado medical marijuana patients only."

The sign-spinners were singled out for scorn at the hearing. "I'm sick and tired of seeing my neighborhood overrun by people who don't respect it," one councilman complained. A dispensary owner and cannabis trade group member said the industry was trying to persuade the few dispensaries that use sign-spinners to stop, and argued that a complete ban on outdoor advertising would hurt the whole industry because of the actions of a few. "We're concerned about stifling the growth of the industry to punish a few bad apples," she said. (More marijuana stories.)

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