A pro-marijuana group purchased five billboard ads this week around MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where the Super Bowl will be played on Sunday between two teams from the only two states where recreational marijuana is legal.
The showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos has been dubbed the first “Marijuana Bowl.”
The Marijuana Policy Project said that the billboards are “highlighting the hypocrisy of the National Football League’s marijuana policy.”
“Marijuana is less toxic, less addictive, and less harmful to the body than alcohol,” said MPP Director of Communications Mason Tvert in a statement. “Why would the NFL want to steer its players toward drinking and away from making the safer choice to use marijuana instead? If it is okay for athletes to douse each other with champagne in front of the cameras, it should be okay for them to use marijuana privately in their homes.”
The group says the “billboards are located on I-78 near the New Jersey Turnpike toll plaza in Newark; on I-495 leading to the Lincoln Tunnel west of Routes 1 and 9 in North Bergen; on I-80 east off the turnpike in Teaneck; and two are located on the Garden State Parkway near the Raritan toll plaza north of Sayreville.”
Recently, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell indicated that the league be open to allowing the use of medicinal marijuana for concussions. On Wednesday, an anti-marijuana group also purchased billboards near MetLife Stadium. Below are the billboards the the pro-marijuana group purchased near the Super Bowl.