The Marijuana Policy Project yesterday announced that it has "posted a giant billboard advertisement -- within eye-shot of Denver's Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium -- that warns the National Football League: 'Stop Driving Players to Drink,'" according to Bruce Horovitz of USA TODAY. The 48-by-14-foot billboard, which "shows a football leaning against a foaming beer glass, advises: 'A safer choice is now legal here.'" Marijuana Policy Project Communications Dir Mason Tvert said because marijuana is now legal for adults in Colorado and Washington, and is not a performance-enhancing substance, "We don't think the NFL should be punishing players for using marijuana." Horovitz notes the same advocacy group recently posted a "high-profile, pro-marijuana video ad outside an entrance to -- but off the grounds of -- NASCAR's big Brickyard 400 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway." The ad "stayed up part of one day before it was taken down." But, "for the moment at least, the much larger billboard company that's posting this ad has no plans to remove it" (USA TODAY, 9/5).
WHAT'S IN A NAME? The AP's Michael Hill reports the Oneida Indian Nation in upstate New York will "launch a radio ad campaign pressing for the Washington Redskins to get rid of a nickname that is often criticized as offensive." The first ad will run on DC radio stations prior to Monday's Eagles-Redskins game. The ads launch as the Redskins this year "face a fresh barrage of criticism over their nickname." Subsequent ads will run in DC "during home games and in the cities hosting the team when it is away." An Oneida spokesperson did not offer specifics, but said the campaign would cost beyond "multiple thousands" (AP, 9/5).
