cannabisnews.com: Pro-Pot Billboards Near S.F. School





Pro-Pot Billboards Near S.F. School
Posted by FoM on August 26, 1999 at 08:12:48 PT
Six-foot marijuana leaf appears on bus shelters 
Source: San Francisco Chronicle 
It may be illegal to advertise tobacco on billboards near schools, but in San Francisco that prohibition doesn't apply to ads promoting other things that are smoked. 
Advertisements paid for by NORML, an organization promoting legalized marijuana, are prominently displayed at Muni bus shelters near at least two elementary schools -- Alamo and Sutro -- in the Richmond District. The ads, showing a marijuana leaf, stand 6 feet tall and say: ``Honk If You Inhale.'' It was enough to outrage at least one neighborhood resident, who called the San Francisco School District and Supervisor Tom Ammiano yesterday to complain that the ads should be removed immediately. ``Children are inevitably going to see (the ads), either on their way to or from school'' said Phil Ryan, a graduate student in English at San Francisco State University. ``I'm outraged.'' A state law prohibits companies from advertising tobacco on billboards that are within 1,000 feet of a school or playground. NORML's bus-stop ads are within 200 feet of the two elementary schools. One bus shelter ad is at 22nd Avenue and Clement Street, a short distance away from Alamo Elementary, which is between Clement and California streets and between 22nd and 23rd avenues. NORML's ad on 12th Avenue and California Street is a short walk from Sutro, which is located on 235 12th Avenue. Principals at those two schools were not available for comment last night. Dale Gieringer, who heads NORML's San Francisco chapter, said that Ryan's criticism is unfair. ``We're not telling kids to smoke pot,'' he said. ``It's very definitely aimed at adults.'' The NORML ads near Alamo and Sutro elementary schools feature a green marijuana leaf and urge passers-by to ``please support the NORML Foundation.'' They also say: ``Stop Arresting Responsible Pot Smokers.'' Gieringer said that NORML does not decide where to put its ads, that officials at Outdoor Systems, which run the bus-stop ad program, decide. A representative of Outdoor Systems was not available to comment last night. Maggie Lynch, a Muni spokeswoman, said the transit organization had not received any complaints about NORML's bus ads. The only complaints the Muni has received in the past two months, she said, have been about bus stop ads placed by a weekly newspaper that feature two men kissing. ``You can't discriminate (who buys advertising),'' she said. ``If you sell advertising, people have a right to buy it.'' About 30 NORML marijuana ads are in bus shelters around San Francisco. It is unknown how many are near schools. Ryan said that the number does not matter -- that two is two too many. He said he ``isn't casting any aspersions at NORML. But I don't think they should be advertising in this way. . . . I think people should be outraged.'' Jonathan Curiel, Chronicle Staff WriterThursday, August 26, 1999 ©1999 San Francisco Chronicle  Page A19Pot Advocates Push Legalization - 8/18/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2546.shtml
END SNIP -->
Snipped
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: