The Compassionate Coalition

K Kaufmann
The Desert Sun
August 18, 2006
Source: http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060818/NEWS01/608180345/1006/news01

In a speedy reversal, Time Warner Cable Desert Cities has decided to run three ads promoting the health benefits of medical marijuana that it had said Wednesday it was not going to air.

As reported on thedesertsun.com, the three ads, produced by the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, a local medical marijuana advocacy group, will debut today as originally scheduled, said Kathi Jacobs, public affairs director for Time Warner.

They will appear on MSNBC, Comedy Central, the Travel Channel and Home and Garden Television every other week for three months, according to Lanny Swerdlow, president of MAPP.

"Our message is going to get out to the general public. That's the important thing," Swerdlow said.

Swerdlow had already signed a contract with Time Warner to run the ads and paid for the first month when Jacobs was quoted as saying the company was turning them down.

But Jacobs said Thursday her statement had been a "miscommunication." Time Warner had not intended to cancel the ads, she said, it had held them off the schedule for review.

"Mr. Swerdlow had never placed an ad. This was the first time, so we took a look," Jacobs said. "They were deemed to be appropriate to be shown."

One of the three ads is a pitch for MAPP's cable access show, "Marijuana: Compassion and Common Sense," which runs on Time Warner Channel 18 at 11 p.m. Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The other two ads focus on the health benefits of medical marijuana, with commentary by two medical professionals, Dr. Philip A. Denney and Anna T. Boyce, a registered nurse.

Jacobs said, Time Warner "has no comment on the content."

Medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996 but remains illegal under federal law.