Federal Eye

The pot business may be legal, but newspapers can’t run ads for it, the U.S. Postal Service says

By Lisa Rein December 21
@Reinlwapo

Newspapers in half the states are breaking the law if they mail publications containing ads for marijuana products — even though the states have legalized pot, the U.S. Postal Service said last week.

This parsing of federal law, released by postal officials as national policy after inquiries from Oregon’s congressional delegation, is one of the messy consequences of the movement to legalize cannabis: It’s bought, sold and advertised for recreational and medical use in some states, but still illegal under federal law.

The confusion started in Portland, Ore., where local newspapers have been running ads for dispensaries and manufacturers in the state’s now-booming weed industry after voters legalized recreational pot for adults last year, following medical pot in 1998. ... In November, Portland’s postal district issued a memo to newspaper publishers, telling them they are breaking the law by running ads for pot and using the U.S. mail to deliver their papers.

The reason? The U.S. Postal Service is a federal entity. Even though Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Alaska have legalized recreational marijuana and 23 other states have legalized medical pot, any newspaper running ads in those states violates a federal law preventing advertising for illicit goods.