High Times Sues Over New Ad Rules in Colorado

Advertsing in High Times is a no-no right now in Colorado.

Preventing marijuana businesses from advertising in publications is the subject of a suit filed by High Times and Westword against the state of Colorado in federal court on Feb. 10.

The main issue is current wording which only allows marijuana-themed advertising in "adult-oriented" publications, meaning "no more than 30% of the publication's readership is reasonably expected to be under the age of 21."

That's a problem for High Times, whose readership includes a significant portion of under 21s. Though Westword joined the suit, this shouldn't be such an issue for the alt-weekly out of Denver.

The suit claims that publications are "chilled from soliciting advertisements from prospective clients and prevented from making revenue from clients who wish to engage in advertising concerning marijuana-related products and services."

Steve Bloom

Steve Bloom

Publisher of CelebStoner.com, former editor of High Times and Freedom Leaf and co-author of Pot Culture and Reefer Movie Madness.