California Launches Ad Campaign to Promote Legal Cannabis Transactions

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]C[/dropcap]alifornia regulators, led by the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC), announced the Get #weedwise digital advertising campaign on June 22, which promotes cannabis sales from legally licensed businesses instead of black market sources.

The campaign urges consumers to utilize the bureau’s online database to check if the dispensary they currently go to is legit and legally licensed to operate. Users can search by the license information or by the address.

“We believe that this campaign will directly impact consumer safety by clarifying that only cannabis purchased from licensed retailers has met the state’s safety standards, while sending a clear message to unlicensed businesses that they need to get licensed or shut down,” Lori Ajax, chief of the California Bureau of Cannabis Control, stated on the ad campaign’s website.

The ad campaign includes messages like “Shop licensed cannabis retailers only,” or “Do you know what’s hiding in your counterfeit edibles?”

The proliferation of illegal dispensaries continues to plague California, long after voters approved Proposition 64 and long after legal sales began. Experts estimate that in Los Angeles, for instance, about 182 dispensaries are licensed, but about 220 illegal dispensaries continue to dominate the area. Others say the number of illegal dispensaries in great Los Angeles is a much higher number, somewhere closer to 1,000 shops.

The run of ads is expected to cost a total of $1.7 million dollars and organizers hope it will help discourage Californians from shopping at illegal dispensaries, delivery services and other types of businesses.

The campaign is not only supported by the BCC and related officials, but also from legal dispensaries that are struggling to survive. Illegal dispensaries don’t charge taxes, so the appeal lies within the prices. But the BCC’s new campaign may be able to convince some consumers to buy legal and stay away from illegal dispensaries and delivery services.