All advertising for marijuana would be illegal in Indiana under an amendment adopted Monday, March 31. Illustration by Leslie Bonilla, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers could ban all marijuana advertising within state lines, under an amendment adopted Monday, March 31 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.

A truck outside of the Indiana Statehouse promotes legalized marijuana as a potential revenue source. Photo by Whitney Downard, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

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 found, “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.