Marijuana's Also on Tuesday's Ballot, and the Ads Are Gold

If 2012 was cannabis legalization ’s breakthrough election , 2016 may show to be the movement ’s tipping point . If all five grownup - use vote measure pass in 2016 , a total of 76 million people – about one - after part of the US population – will subsist in states with legal , regulated adult - use hemp . On the aesculapian side , Florida , Arkansas , and North Dakota would add 24 million residents to the roughly 160 million Americans already go in 25 states with legal aesculapian cannabis . In 2016 , the fate of legalization rest on whether younger voter show up : The generation gap is so with child , in fact , that it will make the difference between winning and losing in most states .

As Election Day brood , supporters and resister of medical and adult - role cannabis are confuse everything that remains of their energy and budget into come their messages in front of likely voter . " Think of the children ! " seems to be the rally cry . legitimation opponents are bombing the airwaves with variations on the child - peril root word : A fry recoils from a cloud of pot ; a pitiful , deplorable child ’s eyes gaze at the camera from a hospital bottom ; and a unrestrained female parent pulls her youngster by from an adult - use cannabis shop decked out with smiling marijuana leaf . Legalization proponents are also tackle the power of a mother ’s passion by showing the compassionate side of medical marijuana , as well as the mogul of regulation to insure the safety of juvenility in society .

The rest of the cast of characters have in the ads ranges from doctors , teacher , and police force enforcement officials all the style to hired politician and X - NFL quarterback Jim McMahon . Here ’s a face at the good , the bad , and the ugly side of the cannabis movement ads now go in many of the nine states voting on cannabis legalization beat .

Marijuana

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Arizona (voting on adult-use cannabis legalization)

Arizona ’s " Yes on 205 " advert focus on the welfare of legalization , while also harness the hotshot world power of former NFL signal caller Jim McMahon , a aesculapian cannabis patient and legalization advocator . Another advertizement takes a unlike approach , interviewing a nanna , the mother of a limited - needs small fry , and a public school teacher who all pick out the value of marijuana - generated revenue for schools and urge voters to support Proposition 205 .

The opposite represent " No on 205 " hired two former prominent Colorado politician ( both of whom served , it ’s deserving noting , long before legitimation was even a consideration ) keen on the suffering and pitfalls of cannabis legitimation . Colorado legislators have sinceasked Arizona ’s legitimation opponentsto pull out the advertising and stop misrepresent Colorado ’s experience with legalization .

Arkansas (voting on medical cannabis legalization)

The campaign behind Issue 6 , the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Campaign , released a 30 - secondment stain that will air in Little Rock , Fort Smith , and Fayetteville . The advertizing recite the write up of a New Mexico female parent who treats her unseasoned daughter ’s seizures with CBD derived from cannabis . After endure eonian raptus , her girl ’s raw CBD regime mean that she has gone seven months without a seizure . " Without aesculapian marijuana , I would have a lifeless babe in a wheelchair , " she says in the ad . The spot come up in retaliation to a electronegative advertising campaign against medical cannabis in Arkansas .

The opposition to medical marijuana in Arkansas take the first excavation with a video echoing theReefer Madness - style of propaganda that was more uncouth decennium ago . Rather than showing actual patients who might gain from medical marijuana , they chose to show a stereotypical , tattooed Isle of Man smoking a articulation in a darkened back alley while siren inexplicably blare in the background . The Arkansas Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe acknowledges that there are medicative benefits to cannabis while in the same breath condemning the use of cannabis as " drug vilification . "

California (voting on adult-use cannabis legalization)

The campaign behind " No on Prop 64 " takes a unquestionably dissimilar approach with a Spanish - language advertizement vaunt the dangers of cannabis - infused confect for children and the effects of allowing marijuana - related advertising on telly . " Prop 64 would appropriate marijuana confect to be advertised on boob tube – on shows shaver watch ! " Concerned parents count worriedly into the camera .

Florida (voting on medical cannabis legalization)

Florida ’s world-class aesculapian marijuana cause , run and funded for the most part by the same group that pushed a nearly very proposal of marriage in 2014 that lost by the slender of margins . Its advertising opens with an genial - look Dr. who discusses the conditions his patient are facing – cancer , epilepsy – and the only legal treatment alternatives in Florida are habit-forming opiates . With the handing over of this measure , he explains , " I can bid effective , compassionate care and get my patients the aid they need . "

The oppositeness once again act on the fears of ganja - infused confect and the dubiety that " candy " could ever possibly be considered " medication , " and play up the worst myths of legalization . The ad shout in bold , yellow caps , " sell next to schoolhouse … with no medical standards . " Although the legislation for Florida is far from comprehensive , it is extremely unbelievable that the eventual regulation would tolerate for such blatant neglect for public safety .

Maine (voting on adult-use cannabis legalization)

Maine ’s legalization drive harnesses the power of jurisprudence enforcement with a herculean ad star Representative and former sheriff Mark Dion , who has spent 32 year in law enforcement and handed out numberless mention for cannabis . His reason for supporting legitimation is so that police force enforcement can concentrate on work out more important crimes , like execution , sexual assault , and finding missing children .

Massachusetts (voting on adult-use cannabis legalization)

One of the more gonzo ads that debut this election season follows an overly refer mother as she claver a toy dog storehouse next to a cannabis retailer with cartoonishly over - the - top hemp decals display prominently , next to suspicious candies . At the end of the ad , the horror-stricken mother watches as her teenage son exits the fund . All reverence - vend aside , there are safe-conduct to prevent these situations – marijuana shops must be more than 500 foot from school , and marihuana - infused edibles must be clearly labeled with childproof promotional material .

Nevada (voting on adult-use cannabis legalization)

The proponents for step 2 have several advertising run away for the " Yes on 2 " campaign . Both advertizing feature Nevadan mothers who support the measure , along with Washoe County Commissioner Kitty Jung , with a stress on the extra gross that will be generate for Nevada ’s school , and how the legalized regulating and revenue of marihuana will keep it off the streets and out of the hands of fry .

A colored and ominous tone permeates the advertizing from SAM ’s political action chemical group , entitled " Do n’t Let It come about Here . " The ad have many pitiful children lie in hospital beds , and cease with a child ’s broad optic gazing upon the password " No on 2 : Protecting Nevada ’s Children . Their biography may depend on it . " This tone is sure to strike a chord with families and parent likewise , although it presents a average amount of falsity . It ’s true that small fry should not be permitted access to cannabis - infused pabulum and if children do absorb them , they may take medical attending . However , the idiom " their life history may look on it " indicates a likeliness that a child overdosing on comestible could moderate to death , which is misleading , as there have never been any deaths link to the overdosing of edibles , in baby or adults .

Is your state of matter one of the nine balloting on cannabis legalisation measures ? go over out Leafly’spredictions for which one will hand , getstate - by - United States Department of State polling infoas the election approaches , and keep an eye on along withlive legalization condition updateson Election Day .

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This article was originally published as " These Legalization Ads Just Might Sway Your Vote . " For this and more articles on cannabis news and cultivation , visitLeafly News .

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