California’s Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District has banned cannabis related advertising, the San Francisco Examiner reports. The move bars ads from ferries crossing the San Francisco Bay, buses using the bridge, and from ferry terminals and transit kiosks.
The move follows a ban by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which prohibits advertising on Muni buses and trains.
According to the report, the ban is partly due to regulators believing it would be an “unproductive use of staff time” to “verify that each proposed cannabis advertisement is from a licensed vendor” as the state moves from a gray medical cannabis market to a full-blown recreational regime. Cannabis ads have historically been barred from Golden Gate district transportation vehicles because of its federal prohibition; however, the board of directors moved to reaffirm that stance as legalization moves forward.
California’s recreational cannabis law includes tough advertising language, including limits on when television and radio ads can be played, and requiring the ads contain the advertiser’s licensee number.
State lawmakers attempted to pass legislation to ban cannabis companies from advertising on clothing; however, that measure did not make it out of committee.