TV ads in support of marijuana legalization hit the airwaves today up and down the state of California. The campaign’s ads in support of Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act are running on both broadcast and cable channels.
The first ad highlights in a straightforward way how the tough restrictions will keep marijuana out of the hands of young people. It explains how only adults 21 and older will be allowed to purchase at licensed businesses. The initiative bans ads directed at kids, there are strict labeling and child proof packaging and would ban edibles that appeal to children.
The second ad also reinforces that marijuana will only be legal for adults over 21 and bans marijuana use in public. The ad also explains that the money in new revenue will fund after school job training and placement initiatives.
“Californians overwhelmingly support replacing marijuana criminalization with a smarter, safer approach,” said Brian Brokaw, campaign manager for Yes on Proposition 64. “Proposition 64 is the most comprehensive, thoughtful marijuana policy in the nation and reflects the input of the hundreds of organizations and experts – and these ads are designed to straightforwardly communicate the vast safeguards and benefits of Proposition 64 to every voter in the state.”
Last week, Drug Policy Action and Brave New Films teamed up to create a hard-hitting video which hit on other important benefits from legalizing marijuana in California. The video illustrates the stark racial disparities in the enforcement of marijuana laws in California and the need to legalize marijuana in California in November.
The two-minute piece shines a spotlight on how discriminatory marijuana law enforcement is used to criminalize people of color and how the criminal justice and sentencing reforms contained in California’s Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act will start us on a new path toward reducing mass incarceration.
The video explains how Proposition 64 contains important sentencing reforms that eliminate or reduce most adult use and cultivation marijuana offenses. It ends the wasteful of expenditure of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars every year in California on the arrest, prosecution and incarceration of nonviolent, marijuana-only offenses. Proposition 64 also reduces barriers to entry to the legal market, and drives hundreds of millions of dollars in investments to low-income communities that have been most negatively impacted by the drug war.
There are a many reasons to support Prop. 64 in November – from the protections for young people, revenue generation to the criminal justice reforms. These ads make it crystal clear that Prop. 64 is the right choice for Californians.
Tony Newman is the director of media relations for Drug Policy Action.
