Denver Activists Launch Responsible Cannabis Consumption Campaign

As Cannabis use becomes more common in Colorado, a new ad campaign has been launched to encourage responsible use of the herb. Behind the ads are activists who seek to promote safe consumption and moderation when partaking of cannabis, rather than past campaign tactics which try to curb use by relying on old views of cannabis as a scary drug. The ads are designed to promote safety as well as combat past stereotypes about cannabis users.

“So far, every campaign designed to educate the public about marijuana has relied on fear-mongering and insulting marijuana users,” said Mason Tvert, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, the largest cannabis-policy advocacy group in the U.S. The new ads are skewering some past Drug War-era ads that capitalized on fear of cannabis, such as the famous “This is your brain on drugs” fried-egg ad featured below from the eighties:

A current youth education campaign that activists find troubling incorporates a human sized cage with the message, “Don’t Be a Lab Rat,” along with warnings about the effects of cannabis on developing brains. One school district rejected the rat cage exhibit, saying it had good intent but was inappropriate. Commenting on the ad, Tim Cullen, co-owner of four marijuana dispensaries, said, “To me, that’s not really any different than Nancy Reagan saying ‘Just Say No,’” referring to the anti-cannabis drug programs of the Reagan era.

The Marijuana Policy Project plans to unveil a billboard on a Denver street where many cannabis shops are located showing a woman slumped over in a hotel with the words, “Don’t let a candy bar ruin your vacation.” The ad is in reference to a popular article published in the New York Times by a columnist who had a bad experience on vacation after eating too much of a cannabis-infused candy bar. The article illustrates the problems that can occur when new cannabis users try edibles without knowing how to properly dose themselves first.

The MPP’s new ‘Consume Responsibly’ billboard.

Activists are trying to promote educational advertisements to encourage responsible use, rather than promoting the past unrealistic strategies of abstaining from cannabis altogether. The Council for Responsible Cannabis Regulation organized the “First Time 5″ campaign, to caution new users not to eat more than 5 milligrams of cannabis’ psychoactive ingredient and to take it slow while waiting to feel the effects after consuming an edible.

One print ad which features historic drug campaign ads in an old TV set reads, “Decades of fear-mongering and condescending anti-marijuana ads have not taught us anything about the substance or made anyone safer.” The add also directs viewers to consumeresponsibly.org, a campaign patterned after the alcohol industry’s “Drink Responsibly” campaign.

Activists plan to spend $75,000 by the end of the year and hope to expand the educational ad campaign to Washington.