Pot industry battles stoner stereotypes

DENVER -- Tired of Cheech and Chong pot jokes and ominous anti-drug campaigns, the marijuana industry and activists are starting an ad blitz in Colorado aimed at promoting moderation and the safe consumption of pot.

To get their message across, they are skewering some of the old 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.

They are planning posters, brochures, billboards and magazine ads to caution consumers to use the drug responsibly and warn 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, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, the nation's biggest pot-policy advocacy group.

The MPP unveiled a billboard Wednesday on a west Denver street where many pot shops are located 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 disoriented from eating part of a pot-infused candy bar on a visit to write about pot.

The campaign is a direct response to the state's post-legalization marijuana-education efforts.

One of them is intended to prevent stoned driving and shows men zoning out while trying to play basketball, light a grill or hang a television. Many in the industry said the ads showed stereotypical stoners instead of average adults.

Even more concerning to activists is a youth-education campaign that relies on a human-sized cage and the message, "Don't Be a Lab Rat," along with warnings about pot and developing brains.

The cage in Denver has been repeatedly vandalized. At least one school district rejected the traveling exhibit, saying it was well-intentioned but inappropriate.

"To me, that's not really any different than Nancy Reagan saying 'Just Say No,"' said Tim Cullen, co-owner of four marijuana dispensaries and a critic of the "lab rat" campaign, referring to the former first lady's effort to combat drug use.

A spokesman for the state Health Department welcomed the industry's ads, and defended the "lab rat" campaign. "It's been effective in starting a conversation about potential risks to youth from marijuana," Mark Salley said.

The dueling campaigns come when the industry is concerned about inexperienced consumers using edible pot. The popularity of edibles surprised some in the industry when legal-marijuana retail sales began in January.

Edible pot products have been blamed for at least one death, of a college student who jumped to his death in Denver in March after consuming six times the recommended dose of edible marijuana.

The headlines, including Dowd's experience, have been enough for the industry to promote moderation with edible pot.

"I think the word has gotten out that you need to be careful with edibles," said Steve Fox, leader of the Denver-based Council for Responsible Cannabis Regulation.

The group organized the "First Time 5" campaign, which cautions new users to not eat more than 5 milligrams of marijuana's psychoactive ingredient, or half a suggested serving.

The campaign warns users that edible pot can be much more potent than the marijuana they're smoking -- and the pot-infused treats on store shelves are much stronger than homemade brownies they may recall eating.

The advocacy ads tackle anti-drug messaging from year past.

Inside pictures of old TV sets are images from historic ads. Along with the fried-egg one is an image from one ad of a father finding his son's drug stash and demanding to know who taught him to use it.

The child answers: "You, all right! I learned it by watching you!"

The print ad concludes, "Decades of fear-mongering and condescending anti-marijuana ads have not taught us anything about the substance or made anyone safer."

It then directs viewers to consumeresposibly.org, which is patterned after the alcohol industry's "Drink Responsibly" campaign.

Marijuana activists plan to spend $75,000 by year's end and eventually expand it to Washington state, where pot also is legal.

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Kristen Wyatt can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/APkristenwyatt

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Online:

http://www.consumeresponsibly.org

http://www.firsttime5.com