Weedmaps is taking out ads on billboards in Michigan.
Many of us have enjoyed the quirky Snapple facts under the bottom of their bottle caps. Snapple “Real Facts” are known to often be false or fun half truths.
Another national company may be taking a page out of Snapple’s book, though, the facts they use will likely be more truthful. Weedmaps has taken out 22 billboards in Michigan as part of a campaign to get recreational marijuana on the ballot for voters. The billboards will primarily be placed in the Ann Arbor and Detroit area.
The goal for Weedmaps “is to provide communities with credible, verifiable facts about the benefits of legal marijuana,” according to Detroit News.
“As Michigan residents consider a marijuana legalization petition, and changes to dispensary regulatory requirements go into effect throughout the state, there is a lot of marijuana misinformation out there,” a Spokeperson for Weedmaps said.
“So we think it’s important to share and talk about the benefits, underpinned by research, regarding marijuana. We want Michiganders to be informed, and we want to foster open, informed discussion and debate.”
One billboard included the message “Since legalizing marijuana in 2012, Colorado has had no increase in youth marijuana usage. Neither has Washington.”
Of course not everyone was pleased with the billboards.
“Marijuana is Big Tobacco 2.0,” said Jeff Hunt, vice president of public policy at Colorado Christian University. “Businesses are going to make a lot of money of promoting a drug that’s going to harm people for generations.”
Weedmaps is not the only organization interested in seeing recreational marijuana legalized. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alochol is also seeking legalization. However, they do not seem overly supportive of Weedmap’s billboards.
“Our preference, if they want to be helpful, would be for them to contribute (to the official committee to help pay) for signature collection,” spokesman for the group Josh Hovey said.
