Indiana considers ban on all marijuana advertising — not just billboards
Indiana lawmakers could ban all marijuana advertising within state lines, under an amendment adopted Monday in a transportation-focused committee. It goes beyond the billboard-specific prohibition taken in a Senate panel last week.
Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie, said his community is 'inundated' with billboards advertising illegal marijuana. The district is near Michigan, which has legalized it.
But that's not all.
'My constituents, myself included, receive up to two — what would look like political mailers — a week advertising an illegal substance' at dispensaries in nearby New Buffalo, per Pressel. He chairs the House Roads and Transportation Committee.
He commandeered Senate Bill 73, dealing with utility trailer sales, for an amendment outlawing the advertising of marijuana and other drugs on Indiana's list of Schedule I controlled substances. Indiana's attorney general could sue for injunctions, civil penalties of up to $15,000 and 'reasonable costs' incurred throughout the investigation and lawsuit.
'I've heard about (how) the First Amendment, I'm trampling on it. I don't believe that to be true,' Pressel told the committee. He cited a federal appeals court decision that, 'basically, if it's a criminal activity, you have no First Amendment right to advertise. That's my understanding.'
The ban would take effect upon the bill's passage. Advertising from contracts entered into or renewed before the approval date would be exempt.
The committee accepted the edits by consent.
Pressel told reporters that the panel 'deal(s) with billboard issues all the time,' but acknowledged that his amendment would also affect mailers, truck adverts, television and more. It also has the potential to impact online activity.
'We're able to geofence a lot of different things. … So is it possible to geofence that out? I believe that it is, but can't confirm,' Pressel said. 'I haven't talked to those folks.'
Pressel authored an additional amendment inserting tweaked towing regulations into Senate Bill 73. The proposal was advanced on a 12-0 vote.
When opposition to a rural intersection safety measure erupted too close to the legislative session's first-half deadlines, its author promised he'd fix it — or kill it. Sen. Mike Crider, R-Greenfield, developed the measure after his friends' eldest son was killed in a crash along an uncontrolled intersection overgrown with tall corn.
A thorough amendment, taken by consent Monday, appeared to ease concerns from farmers.
Rural intersections sightline proposal to rack up edits
Senate Bill 183 initially mandated large 'line of sight triangles' by uncontrolled intersections to be kept clear of crops, vegetation and other obstructions above 3 feet tall. Units of government would've sent landowners or renters notice for noncompliance. People involved in vehicle crashes resulting from blocked sightlines would've been able to sue for damages.
An amendment replaced the triangle concept with a 'line of sight area.' That would be, at minimum, the 20 feet of road right-of-way extending on each side from the center line. The 3-foot rule would still apply for 55 feet along each road from the center of the intersection.
If a local government decides a landowner or lessee isn't compliant, it would have seven days to send written notice through certified mail. The person or entity responsible for the land would have seven days after receiving notice to clear the sightlines.
Otherwise, the local government could take 'corrective action' — and, if warned a second time or more for the same property, charge up to $500 per subsequent clearing.
'We have worked very diligently with stakeholders on … making sure that a traveling motorist doesn't have an obstructed view when they get to an intersection,' Pressel said. 'So, lots of time, lots of hours, have gone into this amendment.'
An Indiana Farm Bureau representative said the edits had softened the group's opposition into neutrality.
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