Some Calif. stations reject pro-pot ad

LOS ANGELES, July 9 (UPI) -- A TV ad by a group advocating the legalization and taxation of marijuana in California will not be run by some broadcast networks, the group said.

The Marijuana Policy Project, the national pro-cannabis legalization group behind the ad campaign, said Los Angeles networks KTLA-TV and KABC-TV have rejected the group's TV spot due to concerns about its content, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

Bruce Mirken, a spokesman for the group, said the ad supports legalization and taxation of marijuana as a method of helping the state solve its budget problems.

The group said the ad features "an actual California marijuana consumer," Nadene Herndon of Fair Oaks, talking about the state's proposed budget cuts to schools, police and state parks. Herndon says in the ad that California officials "are ignoring millions of Californians who want to pay taxes. We're marijuana consumers."

Mirkin said the ad is expected to run about 200 times during the next week on California broadcast networks.

California state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, authored a bill this year that would apply a regulatory framework to marijuana similar to that currently used for alcohol. The bill has not yet been reviewed by the Legislature.