Regional
(2009-12-02)
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DENVER, CO
(KUNC) -
Colorado voters approved the use of marijuana in 2000 for
debilitating medical conditions such as HIV/AIDS and cancer. The industry
is now blooming with more than 14,000 people statewide approved
to use the drug, and that's a 70 percent jump from last year. The group Sensible Colorado is helping shape the
burgeoning industry. Member Brian
Vicente says marijuana dispensaries have money
to spend.
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"It's also important that they get their name out there and that their wellness center exists and they're providing certain services," he said. "I think it is telling that mainstream newspapers have embraced dispensary and medical marijuana ads. I think it's shows society as a whole is coming closer to accepting this."
Colorado's booming medical marijuana industry is doing more than just benefiting dispensaries that sell the drug for a profit. Some media outlets hit hard by the recession are cashing in on the so called gold rush, collecting thousands of dollars in advertising. Others are taking a wait and see approach to the somewhat controversial revenue stream.
Colorado's largest daily newspaper, the Denver Post started running medical marijuana ads in late August. The ads don't generate a lot of money, but like the industry, there's room for growth, according to Kirk MacDonald, the executive vice president for advertising, marketing and digital sales.
"There are over 100 dispensaries in Denver at this time, 26 of those are running (ads) in the Denver Post," he said. "The newspaper and our website appear to be filling a need for those businesses and appear to be producing results so they continue to advertise."
And as far as he knows, MacDonald says there have been no complaints from readers.
"As long as dispensaries and medical marijuana are legal business entities, we will continue to accept the advertising," he said.
But no newspaper has embraced the industry more than Westword, Denver's alternative weekly. A recent edition is covered with pages and pages of medical marijuana ads for green docs, natural remedies and alternative healing. Westword has even hired a part time pot critic to review dispensaries.
"It'll be like a restaurant review," said editor Patti Calhoun. "A different dispensary reviewed every week much like a restaurant is. On quality of what they serve and how what they serve works for you, what the ambiance is like, who's going to be comfortable there. We're kind of the leading experts on it. I never thought I'd be talking about pot this much at my age."
Calhoun received about 250 applicants for the job. She eventually hired a 29-year old graduate student who smokes marijuana recreationally and also uses medical marijuana for ongoing stomach pain.
"No one else is setting out to do a dispensary review the way we will," said Calhoun. "We need to tell our readers in Denver, Colorado what dispensaries are available to them so we are having our critic smoke pot as fast as he can."
A more lenient stance from the Obama administration on prosecuting those in possession of medical marijuana, and a state health board ruling that rejected regulations on the number of patients a care giver could serve, have propelled the industry forward in recent months. But state Attorney General John Suthers still sees a lot of problems with the current system and the original amendment that created it.
"Amendment 20 was designed by proponents of legalization and they designed it in a way that had no regulatory scheme," he said. "It's so broad, so vague. You have essentially de facto legalized marijuana. And I don't think that would be in conformance with the direction voters wanted to go when they approved medical marijuana but voted against legalizing marijuana."
These are the concerns that have some members of the media wary of medical marijuana ads. Chris Kennison, general manager of KRFC radio in Fort Collins, says the station has considered underwriting for dispensaries, but doesn't feel the time is right. The non-profit station airs music and news, including this reporter's stories.
"We wanted to be prudent and wait and see how this is going to shake out because I wouldn't want to take underwriting from a clinic that's perhaps not being run ethically," said Kennison.
Al Tompkins of the Florida-based Poynter Institute also sees a problem in jumping on the advertising bandwagon.
"I can imagine in a recession, especially in an advertising recession, that it would be really attractive to take medical marijuana ads, in the same way they pharmaceutical ads, even alcohol," Tomkins said. "But the fact is it is still against the law on the federal level. Even though there is no desire to prosecute it, it is still illegal, and generally it's against the law to be advertising an illegal act."
It's a decision that more and more newspapers, TV and radio stations will have to make, and not only in Colorado. More than 20 other states are scheduled to consider medical marijuana legislation in 2010, according to people in the industry.
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