The post New Public Health Concerns About Marijuana Advertising in Oregon appeared first on High Times.
Public health professionals are concerned about the effects of advertising and marketing legal marijuana. A January 2018 study in the American Journal of Public Health assessed exposure to marijuana advertising in Oregon after retail sales started in October 2015. Here’s why the results of the study have some health experts concerned.
A Study of Smoking
One of the lessons learned from tobacco and alcohol control is that advertising encourages youths to use those drugs. Oregon has adopted rules that restrict marijuana advertising to locations where no more than 30% of the audience is under the age of 21 and prohibits advertising that targets individuals under the age of 21. Other requirements include publicizing the age restriction and the need to keep marijuana products “out of the reach of children.” Medical dispensaries are subject to other restrictions designed for their market.
In some respects, the results of this study on exposure to advertising were not surprising. Advertising works. More than half (54.8%) of adults reported seeing or hearing advertising for marijuana products or dispensaries. About 3 in 10 adults reported exposure a few times in the last month, 18.8% reported exposure several times and 7.4% reported exposure nearly every day.
“The most reported advertising types were storefronts (74.5%), streetside marketing like sandwich boards (66.5%), billboards (55.8%), magazines or newspapers (40.2%), and sign-wavers on sidewalks (29.3%)” the study says.
Exposure to marijuana advertising was consistent with all age groups surveyed and did not differ by other characteristics such as income, gender, or education. In comparison, 28.3% of adults reported exposure to advertising about the health risk of marijuana use in