Boulder, CO City council to revisit ban on cannabis shops selling store merchandise

oulder has taken very unique precautions with marketing and advertising
cannabis-related products. The city code bans retail cannabis establishments
from selling or even giving away products with their name or logo on them. This
provision was very important to Boulder County Public Health officials, who
feared that heavy marketing might appeal to youth and may very well have a
similar effect on cannabis use among teenagers as years of exposure to
marketing like Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man has had on previous generations
with tobacco use.

“Realistically, right now, with marijuana being legally available
through retail establishments, it changes the potential for how advertising and
marketing can impact youth in particular,” said Heath Harmon, Director of
Health Divisions with Boulder County Public Health.

“No recreational marijuana business shall sell, distribute or provide,
or allow the sale, distribution or provision of, products marked with its name
or logo, other than packaging in which marijuana is sold or on recreational
marijuana products,” the code says. “This prohibition shall not prevent
employees of the business from wearing uniforms with the name or logo while
working for the business on the business premises.”

But industry representatives said Colorado has not seen the increase in
use among teenagers that the Public Health Division had expected. Plenty of
people are wearing cannabis-themed apparel and purchasing paraphernalia, just
not with stores logos and names on them. The provision seemed nearly pointless
after a while. Several Boulder City Council members now believe it is time to
reconsider that provision, which is specifically just in the city of Boulder,
but completely irrelevant to other recreationally approved Colorado towns.

“The idea behind (the restriction) was that there was a causal relationship
between the commercialization of cannabis and teen use, and there is no data to
support that,” said Shawn Coleman, a lobbyist for cannabis businesses.

“The Boulder businesses are at a disadvantage,” Councilman Andrew
Shoemaker told the Daily Camera.
“Meanwhile, the Denver businesses can advertise and even sell merchandise in
Boulder because they aren’t licensed here. We’re surrounded by other
jurisdictions that are selling this, and we’re putting Boulder businesses at a
disadvantage against other Colorado businesses and even moreso as other states
legalize it.”

Councilman Macon Cowles, who has argued that the city’s code is too
strict for a community that supported Amendment 64 by wide margins, joined
Shoemaker in asking that the City Council take a fresh look at the
merchandising ban. The Council received a positive “nod of five” to revisit
this ban within the Council in February.

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Shoemaker said that as a parent himself, he understands the concerns
about teenagers using drugs, but he isn’t sure the merchandising ban is the
best way to address that issue. “I’m concerned about the child exposure as much
as anyone, but I’m not sure this is accomplishing anything,” he said.