We are in the midst of Election 2014, which I’m sure you can tell by the barrage of campaign advertising all over the place. As Election Day approaches, expect to see more and more ads come across your preferred form of communication, especially on the television. If you live in a state that is voting on medical marijuana or marijuana legalization, expect to see a lot of campaign ads revolving around that topic. Ads are likely to come from both sides of the issue.
Per Bellingham Herald:
While marijuana lobbyists once were content to play nice in their media messaging, the new ads reflect a confrontational style aimed at exposing records and getting elected leaders to board the pot legalization bandwagon _ or at least get out of the way.
The ads are tougher and more visceral, often featuring pleas from ill people who want to use marijuana legally. They portend a new strategy that promises to be on display in the upcoming congressional elections and the 2016 presidential race, when pot might emerge as a sleeper issue.
Campaign ads for and against marijuana are not new. However, they are becoming more and more professional in their quality, and are much more frequent than in the past. I remember a campaign ad for Measure 74 in Oregon in 2010. It looked like it was made by a high school video club, which made me very sad while I was watching it. Zoom forward to 2014 where the television ads for New Approach Oregon are much better. See the ad below:
Anti-marijuana propaganda has been around for decades, and is largely responsible for keeping marijuana prohibition in place for so many years. While opponents might frown upon marijuana campaign ads (pro ads and attack ads), the fact is we are fighting fire with fire these days. And unlike anti-marijuana propaganda, we are using campaign ads that state the facts. I’d like to see more anti-candidate websites created targeting anti-marijuana politicians, much like we did in Oregon during the 2012 Attorney General Election directed at Dwight Holton. The two websites we created were vital to ensuring his opponent’s victory.
