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House Bill 1390, a bill that would make several changes to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, caused a heated discussion about advertising marijuana on billboards between Sen. Blake Doriot, R-Syracuse, and a testifier named Blaire Englehart on Tuesday in the Statehouse.
HB 1390’s Amendment 22 would prohibit any sort of outdoor sign that advertises marijuana from being placed next to highways. The attorney general would be authorized to enforce this rule through injunctions and civil penalties, which would increase with repeated violations.
When a bill goes through its entire cycle, normally it would not pass into law until July 1; however, this amendment is declared to be an emergency measure, meaning it would take effect immediately upon the bill’s passage.
expressed serious concerns about this amendment.
“I’m here today because I’ve got really big concerns about this amendment,” said Blaire Englehart, president of a marketing company called the Englehart Group. “In my 50 years (of advertising), I’ve never seen anything that could have such a negative effect on our economy in the state of Indiana.
“This bill is not about cannabis, this bill is not about marijuana, this bill is about the state having the right to pick winners and losers.”
There are over 13,000 outdoor boards in Indiana, and Englehart was concerned about the feasibility of controlling them all.
“How are we going to regulate 10,000 boards? It’s a physical impossibility,” Englehart said. “Now the state does have some regulation because you have to get a license for an outdoor board, but other media you have no control over, and that’s my fear. Once this bill is passed, and I don’t care what anyone says, this is a First Amendment right. And I honestly believe this should be left up to local municipalities of the local governments.”
Englehart continued: “Anybody that thinks people are going to go buy marijuana because of an outdoor board is living in another world.”
When it came time for questioning, Doriot responded to a few claims Engelhart made.
“Marijuana is not legal anywhere in the United States of America. All it will take is Attorney General Bandi to tell the ATF, FBI, all the alphabet, that we are going after marijuana,” Doriot said. “It is illegal in the United States of America. The federal government has just chosen not to enforce it. So I don’t want to hear that it’s legal—in the United States, it’s not, it’s not.”
Marijuana is illegal at the federal level because it is considered a schedule I drug. This means it is categorized as most likely to be abused and is not cleared for medical usage; however, there are 25 states in which it is legal for recreational use.
The 10th Amendment, created to keep the federal government from having too much power, allows states to create policies that can go against federal law. Technically, the federal government could begin a nationwide attack on marijuana. But due to the vast amount of resources it would take to do so in all 50 states, it has chosen to let the states handle it up until this point.
Doriot continued to explain his position and grew a bit heated, offering a personal anecdote.
“And the fact you say marijuana is different than meth or ecstasy or all these other things, yeah, it is,” Doriot said. “But I just spent three years dragging a young man who started with marijuana, and I got him through it, I got him out of it, but we beat meth. And he will tell you today that marijuana dropped his guard down and then meth was offered. So don’t—I’m sick and tired of hearing everybody say that marijuana is harmless. Well, guess what? It’s not.”
Approximately eight minutes after saying that, Doriot paused the conversation to apologize for his words.
“What was the gentleman’s name that I so rudely attacked? I know (Englehart) is gone, but I would like to publicly apologize. (Marijuana) …” Doriot said as his voice began to crack, “is a very passionate issue for my stepson, and so I will seek him out and apologize.”
The Washington Post reported that over 16 million people struggled with cannabis-use addiction as of 2021. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) also says that one in six minors who use the substance become addicted.
Billboards located within 660 feet of federal-aid roads are regulated by the Highway Beautification Act, which requires states to maintain “effective control” over what is advertised on a billboard. Most states let the local government decide what is allowed on billboards, but in rare cases like amendment 22, the state can create new regulations.
The bill, with the billboard amendment, passed committee Thursday and now heads to Appropriations.
”}]] House Bill 1390, a bill that would make several changes to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, caused a heated discussion about advertising marijuana on billboards between Sen. Blake Doriot, R-Syracuse, Read More
