Mayor Ed Lee is urging the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to ban future cannabis ads on transit stations, bus shelters and Muni coaches, according to a report in the Examiner.
The agency's board of directors will discuss pot advertising policies at tomorrow's meeting.
“I am urging the SFMTA Board of Directors to ban cannabis advertising on all SFMTA property, including Muni vehicles and bus stops,” said Lee in a statement.
“Prohibiting cannabis advertising on public transit is the right policy to protect our future generations and communities of color the same way we have done with alcohol and tobacco ads.”
According to the mayor's office, there are 130 ads for cannabis products currently on SFMTA property.
One such advertisement made national headlines in 2016 with a campaign that hit buses before voters weighed in last November on Proposition 64, which legalized the product for adult recreational use.
Recently, members of the city's Chinese-American community have been the most outspoken critics of recreational cannabis, appeared in large numbers at an October Board appeal hearing that quashed a proposed Apothecarium dispensary in the Outer Sunset.
Earlier this month, a group of Chinese-American residents protested outside the mayor's home, criticizing him for remaining "silent" on the cannabis issue and asking for the advertising ban on city buses, according to the Examiner.
Lee has introduced legislation with District 8 Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, to temporarily transition medical cannabis dispensaries into recreational sales outlets on January 1.
But the Board maintains that it is a land use issue, and rules surrounding where new dispensaries can operate to maintain diverse neighborhood economies are crucial. The Board hopes to finalize regulations at its next regularly scheduled meeting on November 28.
SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose told the Examiner on Friday that his agency has received a number of complaints related to cannabis ads on Muni property. “This proposed revision is intended to respond to these complaints," he said.
Tomorrow's vote would amend Muni's advertising policy to prohibit any material promoting marijuana, including services and products. Advertisements already in the pipeline would still be allowed to run until expiration, under a proposal.
Other states where adult recreational use is legal, including Oregon and Washington, already have laws banning cannabis advertisers from mass transit.
