Cable company pulls medical marijuana ads

[palmspringsbum]

Cable company pulls medical marijuana ads



K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
August 17, 2006


Time Warner Cable Desert Cities has pulled the plug on three ads promoting medical marijuana that were scheduled to debut Friday on four popular cable channels in the Coachella Valley.

The ads, produced by the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, a local medical marijuana advocacy group, had been scheduled to run every other week for three months on Comedy Central, MSNBC, the Travel Channel and Home and Garden Television, said Lanny Swerdlow, the group's president.

<table class=posttable align=right width=225><tr><td class=postcell>
<center><span class=postbold>WATCH THE COMMERCIALS</span></center>

<a class=postlink href=http://www.marijuananews.org/video.html target=_blank>"Marijuana: Compassion and Common Sense"</a> is being aired on several cable access channels in Riverside County and the Los Angeles area:<ul class=postvideo><li><a class=postlink href=http://www.marijuananews.org/wmv/spots/boyce_mapp.wmv> Nurse Appears In Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Commercial</li></a>

<li> <a class=postlink href=http://www.marijuananews.org/wmv/spots/denney_mapp.wmv>Physician discusses use of medical marijuana</a></li>

<li> <a class=postlink href=http://www.marijuananews.org/wmv/spots/devilweed_tw.wmv>Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Commercial</a></li></ul>
<center><span class=postbold>Where to See It</span></center>
<span class=postbold><b>Coachella Valley</b></span>: Time Warner Channel 18, 11 p.m. Tuesday, Friday and Saturday

<span class=postbold><b>Desert Hot Springs</b></span>: Adelphia Channel 10, 11 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

<span class=postbold><b>Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms</b></span>: Adelphia Channel 6, 9 p.m. Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.

<span class=postbold><b>Temecula</b></span>: Adelphia Channel 3, 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

<span class=postbold><b>Glendale, Burbank, La Crescenta, Montrose, Flintridge</b></span>: Charter Cable Channel 25, 10:30 p.m. Thursday.

<span class=postbold><b>Hollywood, Culver City, Marina Del Ray, Venice</b></span>: Time Warner Channel 24, 11 p.m. Friday.

<span class=postbold><b>Source</b></span>: <a class=postlink href=http://www.marijuananews.org target=_blank>Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project</a>
</td></tr></table>"They are censoring speech that they don't approve of. They should not be doing that," said Swerdlow, who found out about the cancellation only after being called by a reporter Wednesday. "They should be in the business of fostering new ideas, not trying to squelch them," he said.

Swerdlow said he had signed a contract with Time Warner on Aug. 7 and paid the company for the first month. The contract allows the company to cancel the ads, but only with 14 days' prior notice, he said.

Swerdlow also expects a full refund of the money.

Cable access show still on

Kathi Jacobs, public affairs director for Time Warner, did not give a reason for the cancellation. "The ads have been turned down," Jacobs said. "They will not be aired."
But, she said, Time Warner will continue to run "Marijuana: Compassion and Common Sense," the half-hour show MAPP airs in the Coachella Valley at 11 p.m. Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays on cable access Channel 18.

The company has no control over content on the cable access channel, Jacobs said, beyond scheduling the show outside of prime-time hours.

While the use of doctor-prescribed medical marijuana is legal in California thanks to a proposition passed by the voters, under federal law, any use of marijuana is illegal.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a statement in April reiterating its long-held position that marijuana has no medicinal value.
The canceled ads sought to counter that view.

One is a pitch for the cable access show, which consists mostly of interviews with patients, researchers and medical professionals. The other two ads feature medical professionals - Dr. Philip A. Denney in one and Anna T. Boyce, a registered nurse, in the other - talking about the benefits of medical marijuana.

Boyce is one of the original sponsors of Proposition 215, the 1996 ballot initiative that legalized medical marijuana in California.

Speaking before the cancellation, she said, "I'm hoping that whoever listens to the ads, if they have a plugged mind, (this) will open it."