(Indianapolis, IN) - An effort is underway to impose restrictions on billboards in Indiana that advertise legal marijuana dispensaries in other states like Michigan.

 

In La Porte County, billboards advertising marijuana and the stores legally offering cannabis can be seen all along Interstate 94 and other highways like Indiana 39 and U.S. 12. 

 

State Representative Jim Pressel of Rolling Prairie talked about the issue recently during Sound-Off on 96.7 The Eagle. He says the question is, should those billboards advertising marijuana be allowed in Indiana, where it is still against the law? Pressel said the billboards are widespread across other parts of northern Indiana as well.

 

“It is definitely a problem, having those advertisements and they’re a little bit annoying,” he said.

 

Leading the effort to address the billboards is Indiana State Representative Joanna King of Middlebury. She has presented a bill in the Indiana House of Representatives that could receive consideration while the legislature is in session during the first quarter of this year.

 

Under the measure, a person may not advertise a product containing marijuana, or a marijuana business, on a sign within 1,000 feet of a school, playground, youth program center, public park, public library and the regular route of a public school bus. The bill calls for fines starting at $5,000, then $10,000 for a second violation, and $15,000 for each additional violation. Civil action could also be taken by the Indiana Attorney General’s Office against violators to recover their expenses, related to enforcement. Those monies would be deposited into the state’s general fund.

 

The bill has been submitted to the Indiana House Judiciary Committee for further consideration. Pressel also emphasizsed that state lawmakers should carefully examine whether such restrictions on billboards, if legally challenged, would hold up in court under freedom of speech rights protected by the U.S. Constitution.