The last time the Marijuana Policy Project ran its pro-weed billboards at a major sporting event, it cause quite the dustup, so it’s exciting that the advocacy group is targeting the Super Bowl as well. The MPP launched the billboards today in locations near the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the game will be held.
The group is angling the ads to critique the NFL’s punitive policies for players who smoke weed, arguing that toking up is less dangerous than drinking alcohol (just like Obama said), or, for that matter, playing professional football. “Marijuana is less toxic, less addictive, and less harmful to the body than alcohol,” Mason Tvert, MPP’s director of communications, said in a statement. “Why would the NFL want to steer its players toward drinking and away from making the safer choice to use marijuana instead? If it is okay for athletes to douse each other with champagne in front of the cameras, it should be okay for them to use marijuana privately in their homes.”
The billboards are on I-78 in Newark, I-495 near the Lincoln Tunnel in North Bergen, I-80 in Teaneck, and the Garden State Parkway near the Raritan toll plaza. The designs are a little clunk, the message is good. See all six ads in the gallery.
