Cannabis Billboard Causes Controversy

Cannabis is no stranger to controversy, and a billboard in South Boston, Massachusetts is the latest instance.

WeedMaps, a California-based cannabis website, placed a banner reading “States that legalized marijuana had 25 percent fewer opioid-related deaths.” The company believed it was a positive message in a state that recently legalized cannabis for recreational use. However Sheila Green, a local resident took offense to the advertisement and believed that it violated the billboard owner’s policy of not advertising products aimed for adults in areas with a high density of children. The owner of the billboard, Clear Channel, lists the following claim about “exclusionary zones” on their website.

“Advertisements of all products illegal for sale to minors that are intended to be read from places of worship, primary and secondary schools or playgrounds.”

Greene said that there are approximately 24 playgrounds, houses of worship and schools within a mile of the advertisement. Shortly after her protest, the billboard was taken down.

“The ad was placed in error at a location not meant for the content displayed,” according to Jason King, a spokesman for Clear Channel.

Greene took offense to the opioid messaging in particular, and not simply because it was cannabis-related. Opioid related deaths in Boston are on the rise. Overdose deaths linked to opioids rose from 150 in 2015, to 196 in 2016. Chris Beals, president of Weedmaps, adamantly denies that the company is targeting specific communities.

“We basically take billboards on a space-available basis,” Beals said. “We have little to no say in terms of the [location of the] billboards.”

WeedMaps has been advertising in the state for over seven months. They claim that their data is from a study that was conducted from 1999-2010, that the Journal of the American Medical Association published in 2014.

However, Learn to Cope, an organization founded to help families struggling with addiction feels the billboard is “problematic.” Executive director, Joanne Peterson, says Weedmaps claims are outdated and should not be used in areas ravaged by drug overdoses.

The billboard “is misleading, disrespectful, and insensitive,” Peterson said. “People are burying their family members—they don’t need to see that it’s better to smoke marijuana.”

WeedMaps currently has one other “WeedFacts” billboard in Boston, and plans to add more to the area in the near future.

“We felt that as the state was moving toward a legalized framework that they’re working on right now, one should promote dialogue,” Beals said. “We want to be sensitive about the way we present those facts . . . But I think it’s also important to talk about the benefits and research coming out of marijuana. There should be an open discussion. We’re not putting up giant pot leaves or photos of people consuming marijuana.”