Arizona Parents Group Launches Pro-Marijuana Billboard

The ad features a father with his teen son, asking for marijuana sales to be regulated to help him keep it out of his [son's] hands

PHOENIX, AZ A group of concerned parents, organized for the purpose of highlighting the benefits of regulatingmarijuana to protect teens, launched a Fathers Day-themed billboardThursday in support of the initiative to regulatemarijuana like alcohol in Arizona.

Parents for Responsible Regulation (PRR) revealed the billboard at a 10 am news conference.

The billboard, which will be up through Fathers Day on Sunday, features a man embracing his teen son and stating: Please, card my son. Regulate the sale ofmarijuana and help me keep it out of his hands.

It directs viewers to RegulationWorks.org, which details several ways in which regulating marijuana like alcohol would help protect teens.

Our current system of marijuana prohibition has failed to keep marijuana out of the hands ofteens, says PRR co-chair Sonia Martinez, an attorney and mother of two. It forces marijuana sales into the underground market, where customers are never asked for ID and often exposed to other illegal products. In a regulated system, checks for proofof age would be mandatory and strictly enforced. I would do everything in my power to protect my children, and thats why I am speaking out in support of regulating marijuana like alcohol.

The growing and selling of marijuana are currently being relegated to criminal enterprises, oftentimes including cartels and gangs, says PRR co-chair Ryan Tracy, a father of two. In an illegal market, suppliers cannot count on law enforcement officials to step in when business-related disputes occur, so they resort to violence. Meanwhile, law enforcement officials are spending time arresting and prosecuting adults for simple marijuana possession that would be better spent addressing more serious crimes.

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