Connecticut lawmakers changed the laws around advertising cannabis on billboards this year. The changes came after Massachusetts cannabis companies were using the billboards to attract customers from across the border to visit their cannabis dispensaries. Businesses must now have a cannabis license from the state of Connecticut to advertise on billboards but that hasn’t stopped one Massachusetts company from trying a creative workaround. Green Gold Group has a small cannabis dispensary in Charlton Massachusetts less than 15 miles from the Connecticut border. The company was using a billboard on I-84 in Connecticut to promote their dispensary. Rather than abandon the billboard after the law changed Green Gold Group made some tweaks in an effort to stay visible.
In a report by NBC Connecticut a representative for Green Gold Group explains that the billboard is no longer promoting their dispensary. Now the advertisement is for the Green Gold apparel store that happens to be located directly next door to the dispensary. In a letter dated August 17th Deputy Associate Attorney General Michael Wertheimer asked Green Gold Group to remove the billboards over concerns that they violate the new laws recently passed by the legislature. Green Gold Group says that their apparel business is a legally separate entity from their dispensary and therefore not subject to their advertising ban.
Find the full story from NBC Connecticut here: https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/investigations/mass-cannabis-company-still-advertising-on-i-84/2863965/
