Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed cannabis advertising on billboards on highways in California.
The bill was proposed in response to a court ruling, earlier this year, that forced marketers to take down billboards on state highways that promoted cannabis. Under current 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 that ruling, the Bureau of Cannabis Control told marketers to take the billboards down.
In vetoing the bill that would have allowed cannabis advertising on highways to resume, Governor Newsom said, "Allowing advertising on these high-traffic thoroughfares could expose young passengers to cannabis advertising."
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