A POT AD WORKAROUND
Colorado marijuana outfits using road sponsorships
Cannabis companies are the leading sponsors of Colorado highways, accounting for cleanup on two-thirds of the roads maintained by Clean Colorado — a program the industry has leveraged as a loophole in the state’s strict limits on marijuana advertising.
Currently, 51 cannabis dispensaries, cultivators, manufacturers and edible producers sponsor roadways throughout the state, according to data from the Adopt a Highway Maintenance Corp.
“The rules governing highways signs are in a different section than rules governing the cannabis industry,” said Nico Pento, government affairs director for Boulder-based Terrapin Care Station, which operates six dispensaries in the metro area. “The highway signs were a loophole that was overlooked.”
Though they represent less than half of all organizations that participate in the Clean Colorado program, those cannabis firms’ reach spans about 198 miles, or 66% of the roads actively sponsored.
The business category with the next highest level of participation is general services — ad agencies, pest control, plumbing, real estate — which represents 13% of miles sponsored. Other sponsoring industries include retail at 8%, restaurants at 4%, and casinos and hotels at 3%.
Drivers in the Denver area likely have noticed. Clean Colorado signs with the names and logos of local dispensaries and growing operations dot most major highways here, and often are strategically placed near exits where passersby can find the businesses. That’s no accident.
Colorado’s rules governing how and where cannabis companies can advertise are famously strict. In an effort to prevent marketing messages from reaching minors, state regulators prohibit canna-businesses from advertising on TV, radio and in print unless they can prove the audience is predominantly 21 and older.
The state doesn’t make a profit from or spend money on the Sponsor a Highway program, but rather saves money by outsourcing cleanup services on the sponsored stretches of roadway.
Officials with Adopt a Highway Maintenance Corp. declined to say how much money they take in each year through Colorado highway sponsorships.
Still, not everyone is pleased. The program recently sparked outrage among authorities and residents near Aspen after Dalwhinnie Farms, which grows marijuana in Ridgway, sponsored a portion of Highway 82, according to The Aspen Times.
Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock and County Commissioner Patti Clapper lambasted the Clean Colorado signs for promoting marijuana use and obstructing scenery. The county hasn’t allowed billboards or highway advertisements “for decades,” Peacock wrote in a letter to transportation authorities.
Drivers may begin to see more blatant advertising from cannabis companies, thanks to a new law that took effect Jan. 1 that allows them to leverage outdoor media, such as billboards. Legalized as part of the 2019 Sunset Bill, marijuana advertisements would be prohibited within 500 feet of schools, places of worship and playgrounds and still be subject to local regulations.