Virginia officials withdrew a new ad campaign aimed at discouraging marijuana impaired driving over \u201cconcerns\u201d that it missed the mark, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) told Marijuana Moment.<\/p>\n
The public education campaign featured a 30-second ad that effectively served as an advertisement for marijuana\u2019s relaxation-enhancing effects<\/a>\u2014telling viewers that \u201cif you get high to relax\u2026relax\u201d and showing various actors engaging in activities at home such as taking a bubble bath, watching a nature documentary, gardening and eating large amounts of take-out food.<\/p>\n The idea was to encourage people who are high on cannabis to stay in and relax rather than get behind the wheel of a car and drive while impaired\u2014but the video and an accompanying press release were deleted shortly after being launched, without public explanation.<\/p>\n Marijuana Moment reached out to state officials to find out why the spot was pulled.<\/p>\n \u201cVirginia DMV wants to make sure Virginians receive a clear message about the serious risks of driving while impaired,\u201d Camila Barco, a public relations and media liaison at DMV said in an email. \u201cAs we launched our first cannabis-impaired driving campaign, we received some concerns about how the message was presented.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe take those concerns seriously and have paused the campaign while we take another look at our approach,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Marijuana Moment followed up to ask who had expressed \u201cconcerns\u201d about the ad, but didn\u2019t immediately receive a reply.<\/p>\n Some marijuana reform advocates are questioning DMV\u2019s decision to take the ad down.<\/p>\n \u201cVirginians deserve honest communication about cannabis,\u201d JM Pedini, development director for the advocacy group NORML and executive director for Virginia NORML, told Marijuana Moment. \u201cThe DMV\u2019s latest ad offered the right advice\u2014don\u2019t get behind the wheel if you\u2019re high. There\u2019s no need to overcomplicate that message, and they didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n DMV had said in a now-deleted press release that \u201cthrough a lighthearted and relatable message, the campaign reminds drivers that cannabis impairment can affect their ability to drive safely and that the best place to unwind is at home, not behind the wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDMV\u2019s message is clear: driving is stressful and requires your full attention. Being high makes it harder to react, stay in your lane and handle the unexpected,\u201d it said. \u201cSo, if you use cannabis to unwind, do yourself\u2014and everyone else on the road\u2014a favor: stay put\u2026and relaxxxxx.\u201d<\/p>\n The new campaign was scheduled to air statewide from August 10 to September 7, including on TV, social and digital media, billboards and radio, according to the press release. There was also set to be a plane flown over concert venues displaying a banner reminding people not to drive while high.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Virginia lawmakers this year enacted legislation to legalize recreational marijuana sales<\/a> after Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) suggested amendments to, and then ultimately vetoed, a previous version of the proposal.<\/p>\n A coalition of hemp businesses are suing state officials over provisions of the legislation<\/a> that will impose restrictions on the products they produce and sell.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Virginia Marijuana PSA Pulled Over \u2018Concerns\u2019 That Its Focus On Relaxation Didn\u2019t Send \u2018Clear Message\u2019 About Impaired Driving Risks<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Virginia officials withdrew a new ad campaign aimed at discouraging marijuana impaired driving over \u201cconcerns\u201d that it missed the mark, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) told Marijuana Moment. The public education campaign featured a 30-second ad that effectively served as an advertisement for marijuana\u2019s relaxation-enhancing effects\u2014telling viewers that \u201cifContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86621"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86621"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86622,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86621\/revisions\/86622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Virginia Marijuana PSA Pulled Over \u2018Concerns\u2019 That Its Focus On Relaxation Didn\u2019t Send \u2018Clear Message\u2019 About Impaired Driving Risks<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"