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Discussion about a Bureau of Motor Vehicles bill at the Indiana Statehouse on Tuesday descended into impassioned debate over outdoor marijuana advertising, which Republican lawmakers said should be restricted.
In contention was House Bill 1390, authored by Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie. The underlying legislation originally just dealt with BMV agency matters, such as insurance verification, specialty license plates and registration stickers.
But among multiple changes adopted by the Senate Homeland Security and Transportation Committee on Tuesday—including a significant amendment addressing “predatory” towing—was a ban on “outdoor” marijuana advertising, notably on highway billboards.
Specifically, the amended bill language seeks to prohibit outdoor advertisements for products containing marijuana or a variety of other controlled substances, including heroin, LSD and ecstasy.
The bill moved to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Pressel—whose district extends to Indiana’s northern border—described “billboards all over the place that say, ‘Come to my store and buy this,’” referencing dispensaries in Michigan, where recreational marijuana is legal.
“And we have trucks, mobile billboards, that drive around and sit in front of our parks. That’s unacceptable, and it sends a mixed message to the consumer that this product is legal in Indiana, which it is not,” said Pressel, who unsuccessfully attempted to add the provision to a separate House bill earlier in the session.
“I think that’s an unfair message,” he continued, “and I believe that we should get in front of this to say that if it’s an illegal substance, listed on our illegal substance list in the state of Indiana, you should not be able to advertise for that.”
Multiple advertising industry officials pushed back.
Ron Breymier, executive director of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Indiana, cited First Amendment issues. He argued that policymakers can dictate the size and placement of billboards, but “not the actual advertisement itself.”
Phones and internet searches, Breymier said, are a “greater threat” than billboards.
Rather than a ban, he recommended a requirement for advertisers to include disclaimers on the billboards “so citizens know that it’s not legal to possess or consume” marijuana or other substances in Indiana.
Jason Graham, vice president of Lamar Advertising, the state’s largest billboard operator, wasn’t opposed to regulation, but took issue with a ban “that’s directly targeted toward just one media.”
“If we feel this strongly … I don’t think it should be just billboards,” he said.
Pressel and other lawmakers said they’d be open to expanding the prohibition to other forms of advertising, too.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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