Tired of Cheech & Chong pot jokes and ominous anti-drug campaigns, the marijuana industry and supporting activists are starting an ad blitz in Colorado aimed at promoting moderation and safe pot consumption, the Associated Press reports. To get their message across, they are skewering Drug War-era ads that focused on the fears of marijuana, including the famous “This is your brain on drugs” fried-egg ad from the 1980s. The plan is for posters, brochures, billboards and magazine ads cautioning consumers to use the drug responsibly and warning tourists and first-timers about the potential to get sick from accidentally eating too much medical-grade pot.
“So far, every campaign designed to educate the public about marijuana has relied on fear-mongering and insulting marijuana users,” said Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project. The group will unveil a billboard today in Denver near many pot shops that shows a woman slumped in a hotel room with the tagline: “Don’t let a candy bar ruin your vacation.” It’s an allusion to Maureen Dowd, a New York Times columnist who got sick from eating one. The campaign is a response to the state’s post-legalization marijuana-education efforts, which show men zoning out while trying to play basketball.
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