Help us stop these dangerous and misleading billboards!

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Call for Action
Weedmaps, a California based company, has a number of billboards in the Phoenix area making false claims about legal marijuana, as explained below. The billboard company is Outfront Media, Inc. Research reveals that Weedmaps is running similar billboard campaigns in Massachusetts, Michigan, California, Canada, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
Please Help Us

Click on the links below for sample letters to download and send to:

1)       Office of the Attorney General, Consumer Information and Complaints
Mail: 1275 W Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007-2928
Email: consumerinfo@azag.gov

Sample letter: Word document PDF

2)       Outfront Media Group
Mail: 3150 S. 48 th Street, Ste. 200, Phoenix, AZ 85040
Lodge a complaint on website

Sample letter: Word document PDF
False and Misleading Claims on Billboards
Advertising on the billboards includes claims that youth use has not increased in Colorado and Washington since legalization of recreational marijuana; claims of a decrease in opioid deaths attributable to marijuana in legal marijuana states; how to find dispensaries; and billboards urging viewers to get high. These claims are false, misleading and dangerous.
 
The billboards violate the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act , A.R.S. §44-1521 et seq., which prohibits false and misleading advertising. The billboards violate 21 USCS §843 which prohibits the advertising of Schedule I controlled substances.
The claim that youth use of marijuana in Colorado and Washington has not increased since legalization is false:
  • According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), reports that youth use in Colorado increased 9.53% between 2011 and 2014, and youth use in Washington increased 3.18%. During that same time period, national average for youth use dropped by 2.2%.
  • Colorado youth ages 12-18 use marijuana at the highest rate in the nation; 55% higher than the national average. Washington youth use rate stands at 6th highest in the nation. (NSDUH)
  • A comprehensive report on the results of legalization in Colorado and Washington can be found here.
  • The damage to Arizona’s population from these billboards, particularly our youth, is real. One reliable measure is the Arizona Youth Survey which shows Arizona youth increasingly perceive little to no risk in trying marijuana (68%) or in regular use (51.6%) of the drug.
 
The advertising by Weedmaps that marijuana helps reduce the harm from opioids is dangerously false with the potential to cause serious harm.
  • Researchers at the National Institute of Drug Abuse recently reported that marijuana use is, in fact, associated with an increased risk of prescription opioid misuse and use disorders.
  • The research can be found here.