This is how the Garden State is contemplating the regulation of cannabis advertising. Think booze and cigarettes.
“It’s common sense to have restrictions now,” said Scott Rudder, president of the New Jersey Cannabusiness Association, which represents over 600 companies eager to launch a potentially multibillion-dollar industry in the state.
"Tobacco, alcohol, and gambling ads are restricted, and following that road map would be advantageous” as long as the rules are reasonable, said Rudder, a former Medford Township mayor and Republican state Assemblyman.
New Jersey is poised to become the 11th state to legalize recreational marijuana under a wide-ranging bill proposed by State Sen. Nicholas Scutari of Union County and Senate President Stephen Sweeney of Gloucester County, both Democrats.
The measure that’s being debated in Trenton says cannabis cannot be marketed or packaged using any statement or image that “promotes over-consumption ... depicts a child or other person under legal age consuming cannabis ... or includes objects, such as toys, characters, or cartoon characters" that might appeal to a person under 21, the proposed legal age to purchase recreational marijuana.