PRO-POT ADS NEAR 2 SCHOOLS IN S.F. REMOVED

Placement Was "Innocent Mistake," Company Says

Apologizing for "an innocent mistake," an outdoor advertising company
removed pro-marijuana signs yesterday from two Muni bus shelters near San
Francisco elementary schools.

The proximity of the 6-foot tall ads to two schools unsettled Supervisor
Tom Ammiano and others, who complained to Outdoor Systems after reading a
report in The Chronicle. By 8 a.m. yesterday, the ads were taken down. "The
two ads near schools got by us, and for that I apologize," said Lew
Lillian, manager of Outdoor System's San Francisco office.

The ads featured a marijuana leaf and the words, "Honk If You Inhale," and
were paid for by NORML, an organization promoting legalized use of marijuana.

One ad was at 22nd Avenue and Clement Street, a short distance from Alamo
Elementary School, which is between Clement and California streets and
between 22nd and 23rd avenues. The other ad was on 12th Avenue and
California Street, just down the block from Sutro Elementary School,
located at 235 12th Ave.

NORML has 28 similar ads at other Muni bus shelters. Outdoor Systems
rechecked those ads yesterday and found they are not near any schools.

State law prohibits companies from advertising tobacco on billboards that
are within 1,000 feet of a school or playground. NORML's two Richmond
District bus-stop ads were within 200 feet of Alamo and Sutro.

Although there apparently is no law regarding marijuana advertising, there
was outrage over NORML's ads.

"I'm glad this happened, so that the next time someone wants to put an ad
near a school, they will consider the children's needs," said Annette Lim,
Sutro's principal.

Ammiano said the marijuana ads may be appropriate in other areas, but not
near schools.

"I think a valuable lesson was learned," he said. "I do support the
decriminalization of marijuana. Even so, it was a totally inappropriate
placement."

NORML did not tell Outdoor Systems where to put its bus-shelter ads, which
have been running for more than a month.

Still, the head of NORML's San Francisco office on Wednesday defended the
ads' placement near Alamo and Sutro schools, saying, "We're not telling
kids to smoke pot. It's very definitely aimed at adults." Yesterday, Dale
Gieringer backtracked, saying, "If the principal people who use the bus
station are elementary school kids, it probably doesn't make much sense to
have a political ad there."