The California Bureau of Cannabis Control ordered marketers to take down any billboards on interstate highways that promote cannabis products.
Under California law, cannabis products are not allowed to be advertised "on a billboard or similar advertising device located on an Interstate Highway or on a State Highway which crosses the California border." The California Bureau of Cannabis Control's regulations implementing the law, however, permitted advertising on these highways so long as the billboards were not within 15 miles of the border. After a lawsuit was filed challenging the regulation as being inconsistent with the statute, a state court in California held that the regulation was invalid because the Bureau of Cannabis Control exceeded its authority in issuing it.
As a result of the court's ruling, the Bureau of Cannabis Control issued a statement last week saying that billboards promoting cannabis may no longer be placed on interstate highways in California and that marketers should "begin the process of removing current advertising and marketing" that was previously placed there.
Farmer v. Bureau of Cannabis Control (Bureau) & Lori Ajax.
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