Federal lawmakers in the U.S. House and Senate have proposed legislation to overturn a ban that prevents advertisements for legal cannabis from appearing in newspapers, Tom Angell writes for Marijuana.com.
It was late last year when Oregon USPS officials first issued the warning that it remains illegal to “place an ad in any publication with the purpose of seeking or offering illegally to receive, buy, or distribute a Schedule I controlled substance.” USPS followed that development with a new national policy requiring post office employees to accept and deliver ads for legal cannabis if the customer insists — but suggests they afterwards report the incident to law enforcement.
The proposed legislation, the Marijuana Advertising In Legal States (MAILS) Act, would add a sentence to the Controlled Substances Act detailing that the law “does not apply to an advertisement to the extent that the advertisement relates to an activity, involving marihuana, that is in compliance with the law of the State in which that activity takes place.”
The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and was co-sponsored by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Patty Murray (D-WA). The House bill was proposed by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), whose co-sponsors are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR).