Speech About Legal Weed Is FORBIDDEN in This State
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- Опубликовано: 13 ноя 2023
- If it’s legal to sell a product, it’s also legal to talk about that product. But not in Mississippi-at least not if the product is medical marijuana.
ij.org/case/mississippi-adver...
In 2022 Mississippi joined the growing number of states to legalize medical marijuana. And entrepreneur Clarence Cocroft recognized that a medical marijuana dispensary would be an excellent business opportunity. He opened Tru Source Medical Cannabis, LLC-the first state-licensed, Black-owned medical marijuana dispensary in Mississippi. The family-operated business has been successful, but an advertising ban imposed by the state Department of Health (DOH) has severely hampered it.
The Mississippi law legalizing medical marijuana lays out a scheme authorizing the cultivation, tracking, and sale of medical marijuana with a valid prescription. But the law also gives DOH discretion to regulate advertising for dispensaries, and the department has exercised that discretion aggressively: It has completely prohibited dispensaries from advertising and marketing in any media at all. Essentially, dispensaries are only permitted to have signs on their own property and maintain a basic homepage on the web, making it nearly impossible for patients to find the dispensaries best suited to their needs.
Like all entrepreneurs, Clarence wants to tell consumers about his business. He wants to be able to tell patients where it’s located, what he sells, and how much it costs. But he can’t, despite his constitutional right to do so.
The First Amendment protects the right to exchange truthful information about legal products. Medical marijuana is legal in Mississippi and the federal government has said it won’t enforce federal marijuana laws against state-legal medical-marijuana businesses. That means that no law-state or federal-justifies the state’s censorship here. Mississippians have a constitutional right to information that will inform their purchasing decisions. And the state has no interest in interfering with that right. That’s especially true here, where the state’s apparent goal is to manipulate consumers’ behavior by restricting their access to truthful information.
The advertising ban impermissibly harms Clarence’s business because it unconstitutionally restricts his speech. That’s why Clarence has teamed up with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to file a federal lawsuit challenging DOH’s advertising ban. Victory in this case will reaffirm that the First Amendment prevents the state from censoring people who want to speak about legal products and services and ensure entrepreneurs like Clarence can promote their legal businesses.
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It’s bizarre to me that advertising this is illegal but drug companies do it all day long.
Conservative Republicans are in the pockets of big Pharmaceuticals add big Pharmaceuticals does not want a plant that anyone can grow in their yard that will help them with their health issues to be legal
Just like all the beer companies in the wine companies they don't want something that's going to take money from them so they don't want marijuana legal either
They must have assumed that medical marijuana would have to be "smoked" and treated it like advertising cigarettes (which is heavily regulated) when the differences are massive. A dispensary is a type of store and they should be able to advertise the "general facts" even if they can't boast about the products found inside the store... but come-on! Tequila (alone) has probably contributed to more deaths annually than Marijuana will in a thousand lifetimes... 🤦♀️
Drug companies control a substantial portion of the media and own a substantial portion of the US governments.
It makes perfect sense that they would silence their competition.
The GOP only fights for lobbyists
A blatant 1A violation. THANK YOU, IJ, for all you do!!!
Not sure about that. The government restricts speech all the time when it comes to drugs. Whether it's alcohol, cigarettes, prescriptions, etc, the courts have upheld that it's an exception to the 1A.
@@stevenpike7857 tobacco restrictions come to mind. This will be a tough case.
@@fountainvalley100 Yes, and they also restrict where you can advertise booze.
but all of those things can be advertised, cigarettes and pharmaceuticals just require warning labels @@stevenpike7857
Too bad that is Mississippi. You are lucky you can sell at all! It is unfortunate Congress is too cowardly to reschedule this to schedule V because it does not fit schedule I !
This is a pretty good advertisement. The state of Mississippi is gonna be mad.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Needed to get address and/or phone # in news pieces
@@joehannah1343 the business address and phone number should be a public record available at the Secretary of State office. I may go look if somebody doesn’t post it first.
ETA: That turned out to be trickier than I expected. It would have been easier if he hadn’t misspelled the name of his product in the business name filing :(
@@joehannah1343Its on google maps in Olive Branch
Censorship is fast becoming the new normal.
when authoritarians wanna pretend they represent the constitution and the masses continue to elect them regardless of their actions to the contrary, you tend to get that.
That’s how conservaturds want it
I can’t even see the replies to your comment here.
@@henrywolf5332 The replies were either spam or real comments falsely marked as spam and removed by an algorithm made by RUclips.
@@orppranator5230 That is naive. They have shadowban lists and throttles. It’s definitely to shape perception and a narrative.
I am sure that I am not alone when I say that I hope Institute for Justice and Mr Cocroft are successful in their lawsuit.
Wow, Mississippi really messed up this time! Good luck to Clarence!
When does Mississippi NOT mess up?
It’s at the bottom of the cesspool is just about any measure: poverty, life expectancy, education, et al.
So nice to see the institute for justice picking up the slack where the aclu once defended freedom.
ACLU is just about worthless, they only are interested in publicity anymore. They won't help you otherwise.
ACLU is a disgusting crap. That smells.
The state of Mississippi has problems with the first amendment in many other ways besides advertising. It looks like the government there needs to study the Constitution alot more.
Thank you Institute for justice!!!!
@sporty196071
It looks more like a government that needs to be replaced in its entirety.
And Florida- and Tennessee
That would apply to red states in general.
@seanman1231 And most blue states once you get far from the cities and university campuses.
great, let's get all the kids confused@@RailBuffRob
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security”. Declaration of Independence
@@RykerRally wanting a government that doesn’t limit speech is oppressive to you?
@cydrych You know full well what the op meant and it isn't what you claim.
@@mikelouis9389 I posted a quote that I feel is appropriate for the state of our country and the governments total disregard for the rights protected by the constitution. Someone said that people who talk like that are are oppressive. What else could they mean? It sure sounds like they believe that standing up to a tyrannical government is oppression.
I'm a veteran paramedic of 30 + years in the inner city. I have ptsd so bad I had to move to Florida just to get some help.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you
as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not
be afraid.
❤
The lawmakers in Mississippi should take a trip to Vegas. The dispensaries out there make taxis look like fully sponsored NASCAR race cars.
I think that's why they made this law.
Honest business with a bad stigma & the holy-rollers judgment! Good luck Clarence & IJ, you will win!
No bad stigma in Canada and you can advertise here. What about doing online sales for a while?
This is insane, customers should take it on themselves to spread the good word of his business
But the law existed before he opened his business. It's on him. It's not "insane" - if you can't advertise, why open in an industrial park and not a main street store?
@@thinkfloyd2594 cost restrictions I’d imagine but what’s insane is a clearly biased law attempting to prevent the development of cannabis as a business
@@thinkfloyd2594It's not on him that the government is regulating something that it has no business regulating.
@@thinkfloyd2594 Americans should not bow down to shit laws. We change them.
Hope you get clearance, Clarence!
WE COULD ADVERTISE FOR YOU BY POSTING THIS ARTICLE ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIAS!
I think your caps lock key is broken.
If pharma companies can have ads, then that place can too.
The problem with states like this is you win this fight and they put up another road block and so on and so on.
Maybe the citizens of the state should.... idk... stop electing thugs?
Not necessarily. It could've been put in the legalization bill as a compromise just to win over a few legislators.
You just described the black experience in America. Win one fight, and they put up another roadblock.
@@RevSinkiller Don't try to make the entirety of government tyranny, and bureaucracy as a whole, into a black issue. It is universal. Remember, the American revolution happened because primarily white Americans were fed up with their primarily white oppressors, the British.
They take taxpayers money and use it to lobby against our rights.
If it were up to the government there would be a ban on everything, including your constitutional rights
maybe the right wingers. The left is a bit more lenient and open minded.
@@Dapper_Deanyou gotta be joking😂all politicians dont gaf about you doesn’t matter what party they affiliate with.
People that are discussing the past advertising laws on alcohol and tobacco are missing that those laws are not a complete prohibition. It seems the difference between those laws and a complete ban is that all abridgment of free speech must be contained within reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. It would seem that Mississippi would have to find an analogue to uphold these policies, and they won’t. They would have to change the policy to mimic alcohol and tobacco advertising restrictions.
That's a free speech violation. I'd didn't even finish watching the video and I'm commenting right now that is a free speech violation and I'm pretty sure the institute for Justice came up with other violations because I'm a professional. Thank you institute for justice.
No, they made a law BEFORE he opened his business. It's on him. Don't open in an industrial park if you knew IN ADVANCE, that you couldn't advertise.
@thinkfloyd2594 He knew in advance? If so, it still doesn't make it right to censure free speech. Just because some uneducated law makers pass a bill, they can be held accountable if any reasonable person could identify a violation of the constitution. So, if his employees wear uniforms with the name of the business, that would be advertising. You're going to tell me that is against the law? He can't hand out business cards, have a sign on his building with a logo? You see how ridiculous this can get?
@@thinkfloyd2594Anything that violates the constitution is null and void.
@@thinkfloyd2594 Just because there is a law, that doesn't mean it's right or just.
This is ABSOLUTELY UNFAIR!! We are not North Korea! If someone were to advertise, what is the penalty and where is this stated in our laws? Statute? What would we be charged with???
I do hope people in Mississippi share this video on social media.
Thanks for helping the guy get a little advertising in.
Any press is good press. 👍🏾
Time to get govt hands out of our lives. The tentacles have grasped us in everywhere and will only get worse with tech. Legalize all drugs! If it doesn't harm others then it shouldn't be illegal. We need more care and compassion to help those in trouble. If our govt truly believed these laws were for health they would ban fast food etc.
Go IJ. Help bring Mississippi into the21st century.
This is an issue in multiple states. They typically make it more difficult. Michigan faced similar problems when it was just medical. It was mostly a city by city basis and they were technically legal, but there were more hoops to jump through if it was for marijuana. After recreational marijuana was legalized it took about a year and people starting pushing back. Now you can see several billboards along the highways, but it is still very rare to hear anything on the radio. I'm pretty sure you can't get TV advertisements still, but tobacco can't be advertised there either. Yet, alcohol is regularly seen on tv
Friends in Alabama recently were told and shared w/me they are being told they HAVE to be on Opiods to get the card for medical mj care. It's used to be off the opiods in illinois. Why? Opiods? Really?
@twinkyd.9166 I had friends with similar issues when Michigan first made medical legal. They told my friend that the opioids were irrefutable proof they had a pain management problem. They would need to be on them for 3-6 months to prove they needed the med card. It's absolutely ridiculous.
@@twinkyd.9166They want drug users to die, that's why. And making sure people are on opioids is the surest way to achieve that end.
Watch Star Trek... Alcohol is banalized everywhere there's a chance. And more.
@@Egzosetexcept for all 1% Hobbies like Formula 1 racing they have every alcohol brand Under the Sun advertising on those cars.
I hope the powers that be don’t consider this advertising on social media. :)
It's absolutely shocking that Mississippi would take a regressive stance /s
His problem is simple, he isn't paying the right politician off.
in Mississippi? You notice he's black right?
And licensed BY the same state that is not allowing him to advertise??...Absurdity!
A temporary work around would be to open a second business at the same address selling herbal supplements. Then advertise the herbal supplements. A lot of those customers will then discover the other half of the business.
Claire should try to sue the state under violations of the 14th Amendment of equal protection. Because of another company can advertise and he should be able to advertise to because it's equal under the law
Good call - both 1A and 14A.
Vermont does not allow billboards for anyone.
That is absurd
Here's what's really going on. They legalized it but they really didn't want to so this is the roadblock they put in. They're simply trying to deny funding for them to stay in business.It's like when government is forced to pass a law they really didn't want to pass so what they do is pass the law but deny funding for it. Just my opinion.
I wonder if he could put his billboards somewhere just outside of state lines, so that people coming to or leaving the state could see it as they drive past. I hope he wins his federal lawsuit. This is just ridiculous!
Most fireworks are illegal in NY but not PA, so PA fireworks stores advertise in NY.
Like in some private farmers land along the freeway.
Just saying.
End drug prohibition
Remember when they stopped tobacco companies from TV ads
But this is medical.
I wish this great business all the best ✊✊✊✊✊
Ganga is finally coming into its own. I hate to think of all the lives the "law" has ruined over this natural product as pharmaceutical companies keep coming up with new drugs to release through pharmacies and your best personal dispensary.
I could not agree more.
Never underestimate the power of word of mouth. If you’re the only game in town people who want cannabis WILL find you.
easier said than done in places like Mississippi. Too many Karens and snitches around.
It’s next to impossible to get access either even when you need it badly. When you ask about it your sent to someone else who acts like they have no idea what your talking about and sends you to someone else. It’s an end run around the law that keep people from getting the access to the product that the law decrees. It’s likely criminal.
That's censorship is the worst way. Heck I drove up I-75 a few weeks ago from Toledo to Madison heights and almost every billboard I seen was about cannabis
The irony of a federal suit for something that is federally not legal... should be interesting.
There's longstanding advertising laws that limit advertising dealing with alcohol and tobacco probably will loose this case based on those cases.
All they have to do is show that their is a compelling state interest and a narrowly tailored law
But those companies are allowed some advertising. This business is allowed NONE. I've seen ads in adult places for all of those businesses. The MS SupCrt will rule against a black business owner (that's a given) but the US SCOTUS may just side with the business only because there are HUGE dispensary interests at play. Our SCOTUS loves ALL things BUSINESS. 🤦😒
Pharma companies used to be prohibited from advertising their warez on TV & radio. It wasn't until the 80s or 90s that the law was changed in that regard. That being the case, there is almost certainly precedent for banning advertising for drugs in case law, and I would be quite surprised if it were to be found unconstitutional.
The prohibitions on alcohol and tobacco advertising only applied to broadcasts over the public airwaves, which the government regulates via the FCC. The argument was that it was not in the public interest to encourage consumption of hazardous products. All other advertising of those products was never limited.
But this is a medical product.
Go get 'em I4J!
It is fairly certain that right now Clarence can make more money off a civil rights lawsuit than he can selling cannabis. However, with the publicity about such a lawsuit sure to be front and center news for mainstream outlets, he will soon have more business than he can handle. Mississippi, goddam...
I never understood how the tobacco advertising ban was legal. They used to ban hard liquor ads. It is blatantly against the First Amendment.I have never been influenced by advertising.
That would be believable if this was a comment on Vimeo instead of RUclips
This seems like a 1A violation. Wtf
Hence the lawsuit.
You seem to be the dull bulb in the knife drawer.
Glad you are defending this business.
Was a time when advertising liquor on TV was illegal but cigarette ads were allowed.
Weed Adverts: _BANNED!_
Free Publicity: *_HOLD MY BLUNT!_*
Oooh they won't be happy with this unintended free 'Advertisement' and because I live in Scotland, we are now aware of this dispensary and will put word out to our friends in Mississippi and they will do the same.
This needs to go viral!
What a backward law in a backward place.
The funny thing is that this video is an advertisement
How about this: a billboard that has in big letters "Who is Clarence Cocroft?" and show his number.
Now that's PLAYING the GAME. I like it.
I bet Mississippi has no problem with big pharma advertising their drugs, though.
I hear Peter Tosh has volunteered to do a bit of free ad time.
My town (Brick, NJ) passed an ordinance that bans dispensaries. Yet there's a bar/liquor store on every other corner!
I smell lobbyist keeping competition quiet.
You cannot prevent people from TALKING about the business. IF they happen to be on the CB radio (but the purpose of the conversation is not only about the dispensary), you could spread the word.
As long as all drug advertisement is banned.
We gotta stop with the "* owned"
Funny how the state wants taxes from your business but they don't seem to want your business to succeed.
I walked into a smoke shop that sold tobacco products and they also had a display case with glass pipes which is totally legal, while looking at one of the pipes and said to the guy behind the counter "I wish they would just legalize it", the guy waved his hand like to stop me from talking and pointed to a sign that said they weren't allowed to talk about marijuana, I just shook my head and walked out.
Open a “weed treats snack shack” next door. Perfectly legal to advertise that.
He is in Mississippi. The literal worst place to be in America.
Does McDonalds advertise there? What about alcohol companies? What is worse to put in your body?
I haven’t seen advertisements for cigarettes in years
But this is medical.
He needs to advertisers integrity
Get the doctor to drop your name who gives out the medical license.
We must legalize the plant federally nationwide
This is an amazing AD, I hope he gets a lot of business from this
Take it to the Supreme Court
Violations of constitutional rights of any type is unacceptable! While I personally don’t believe in the use of medical cannabis. I strongly support the right of all citizens to fight for their constitutionally protected rights period!
Why don't you "believe" in medical cannabis? What don't you believe about it? Research has shown it to be incredibly effective. It does not harm you, like opioids do, nobody dies from it, like they do with opioids. So what is your issue?
It's almost like he's doing something illegal?
that's weird cause its the same here in Alabama where they aren't allowed to have billboards for advertising, but most of the stores are on the main roads & are near/in cities
No such thing as legal cannabis anything in the US. Stay safe out there.
The old skool way was to write a Human Interest story about the business in the third person was free advertising for our original Mail Order business owners. It is not advertising, it is Human Interest. An interview of the business owner and their background and describe the business itself - not advertising, just reporting...
Ridiculous. Let this man advertise!
It’s legal but cannot advertise. Stupid government.
Thank you IJ.
Chronic pain, ptsd, I took edibles everyday for years, then had to move states now I can’t have them.., bs.
Can't advertise but you can pay taxes.
Down with the establishment
Not rocket science. Build another suite in the same building, turn it into a bakery, take out, etc. and advertise that.
Mississippi HATE's the 1A!? Oh I'm SO SHOCKED! see? here's my SHOCKED face! > 😑
This is interesting as I know there was a court ruling regarding commercial advertising not being protected or having lesser protections under the constitution than other forms of speech. I may not agree with this, but I believe there is a precedent that you'll need to get overturned which can be VERY difficult. Any restriction on speech is EXTREMELY dangerous. As soon as you have a judge that gets to decide whether or not speech is legal you open the flood gates to censorship and undermine the very foundation of democracy. To that end we do not have a democracy in the United States already. We also have a problem with what speech is heard by the existence of major media outlets controlling or deciding what speech is heard and how it is heard or presented. Some speech is quite disturbing and borders on violence, but depictions of violence is not something we can afford to criminalize as it endangers the foundations of democracy. What is more disturbing is that people put morals above democracy even at the cost of destroying the people they're trying to protect. This both undermines democracy and hurts the very people these moral crusaders are supposedly trying to protect. It's a mental illness and one that impacts most people. The state should NOT be worshiped or be assumed to be good or act in the name of good. The state is made up of people who are looking to benefit themselves.
You'd think he would have read that first.
Sounds like déjà vu. What's worse than silence is when only 1 side exists and the rest gets erased. Beware, you ain't the 1st...
The IJ at it again. I’m convinced these folks are doing God’s work. Hopefully they’ll defeat QI, CAF, and bogus traffic stops in my lifetime.
What is QI, CAF?
@@veramae4098Qualified Immunity and Civil Asset Forfeiture.
@@veramae4098 qualified immunity and civil asset forfeiture.
Complaining about advertising is god's work? Hysterical!
@@thinkfloyd2594 ummm…you must’ve missed the point that freedom of speech is the underlying issue. You know, the very 1st Amendment to the Constitution.
Why is it illegal to advertise cigarettes? Do we accept any limitations to speech on billboards? Profanity? Pornograghy? How about limitations on radio and television broadcasts? Why do any of these restrictions exist? With which ones do you agree or disagree? Personally, I think we are currently very inconsistent on this issue.
Meanwhile we r burraged by big pharma pill ads all day
wird of mouth is better than advertising any day
I hope this gets rectified
I don't know what they wanted to achieve with this, but even a win would put all depositories in the U.S. under FDA advertising regulation, meaning every single depository advertisement would have to approved and fall into the same regulations as other prescription medication advertising regulations. He did lose his case, and will probably lose the appeal because this case was fought way too early, you can't fight to advertise in a federal court something that is illegal under federal law. He might could have had a chance in the Mississippi court system, but making this a federal case before the feds legalized medical marijuana is just a fool's game.
Why is it that the people in governing positions are the cause of so many of the people's difficulties, over and over again? Well i am glad you asked :>) ~ It is because we let them get away with it, over and over again. . . :>/
Yeah this wont stand in court
Freedom of speech!
If it's a legit legal medicine why can't you buy it at a normal Pharmacy?
Because it is not legal legit nor medicine.
It looks like this is going to the Supreme Court