New York State launched its first ads in anticipation of legally selling marijuana later this year with the warning: “Don’t drive high.”
Customers will be able to buy cannabis products in licensed retail stores by year’s end, according to the state Office of Cannabis Management.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and OCM unveiled 15 second and 30 second public TV services ads and billboards as part of the state’s “Cannabis Conversations” campaign.
The TV ads advises: A customer must be 21 and over to buy and use cannabis; stoners should be respectful and smoke skunky smelling weed “away from other people,” store the stash safely away from children; and “you should never drive under the influence.”
Roadway billboards contain the phrase enclosed in a big white bubble that warns pot smokers: “Don’t drive high.”
“With the ‘Cannabis Conversations’ campaign, we’re following through on our commitment to provide New Yorkers with the information they need to safely navigate the new Cannabis Law,” Hochul said.
“Education is the best tool to keep New Yorkers healthy as we continue to ramp up this safe, inclusive, and equitable industry.”
OCM said the first batch of licenses to sell cannabis should be issued in the fall.
New York officials created a stink last month by approving rules that gives convicted potheads and dealers when cannabis was illegal the first dibs for licenses to sell recreational marijuana.
The legislature passed a law about a year ago legalizing the sale of cannabis. Surrounding states including New Jersey and Massachusetts also made weed sales legal, forcing New York’s hand.
