Put simply, this ordinance addresses those concerns most often voiced by Denver’s citizenry, while maintaining the rights of industry participants to market their businesses in an efficient, fair, and cost-effective manner.
However most of Denver's city council members disagreed with Frieling and do want to give medical marijuana businesses the ability to advertise—just not in the over-the-top way that some have been.
This lawsuit argues that the inability to advertise in magazines, as well as any kind of medium, is a restriction on the freedom of speech article in the US Constitution.
[4] David Lane, the attorney representing High Times, states that these rules "irrationally single out Retail Marijuana Establishments for more stringent advertising restrictions than those regulating the alcohol industry, although the Colorado Constitution calls for the regulation of marijuana ‘in a manner similar to alcohol.’" [5] This lawsuit, commencing in February, still has not come to any conclusion.
In August of 2014, Colorado public health officials started an advertising campaign targeted at teenagers warning them of the dangers of smoking marijuana during adolescence.
Mike Sukle's advertising agency was hired by the state and designed the campaign and has called the job "a monumental task".
[6] Later that August in 2014, the city of Boulder, Colorado’s superintendent, Bruce Messinger, announced that the "Don’t Be a Lab Rat" campaign would not be appropriate for the community.
Messinger stated that his objection to the campaign was the fact that inviting pre-teen to teenage students into massive rat cages was not the most effective way to get their message across.
While Rep. Polis has been critical, Dr. Wolk says "We are pleased that the Don't Be a Lab Rat campaign has served as a catalyst to start a much-needed conversation among teens, parents and influencers about the potential negative effects of marijuana on developing brains...Critique and criticism of the creative elements of the campaign were to be expected and have helped further the conversation.