Two Boulder marijuana businesses stand accused of violating the city’s ban on pot advertising because they had booths at Out Boulder’s Pridefest celebration last month.
The stores didn’t distribute marijuana at the booths, but they did feature large signs featuring the names of the businesses, The Farm and Terrapin Care Station.
Boulder City Attorney Tom Carr said the large signs go well beyond the “purely incidental” advertising related to sponsorship that is allowed in city code. Incidental isn’t defined in the code.
Some City Council members say they never intended the ban on advertising to apply to something like a booth at a festival, and they want the city to treat pot businesses like other corporate sponsors of charitable events.
Chris Woods, owner of Terrapin Care Station, said he is “outraged” and is consulting with an attorney about a lawsuit against the city for violating his free speech rights, regardless of the outcome of the violation.
Representatives of the The Farm couldn’t be reached Wednesday, but Boulder attorney Jeff Gard, who represents both businesses, said the notices of violation are typical of a very strict approach to marijuana regulation that is out of step with the community’s values.
Jeff Gard, Attorney for Terrapin Care Station and for The Farm
This is about not normalizing pot
Read Erica Meltzer’s “Boulder pot businesses cited for breaking advertising ban”: http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_29005026/boulder-pot-businesses-cited-breaking-advertising-ban
