SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
In a downer for California’s legal marijuana industry, regulators say some highway billboards advertising such products must come down.
The state Bureau of Cannabis Control on Thursday ordered billboard companies to stop selling space for cannabis marketing and take down existing ads on roads that cross state borders. Previously, such ads were only banned within a 15-mile (24-kilometer) radius of the California border.
The new decision covers about three dozen state and interstate routes, including heavily traveled Interstate 101 in Los Angeles.
The advertisements can remain on highways that lie entirely within California borders.
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The decision heeds a ruling by a judge in San Luis Obispo County that found interstate highway cannabis ads are illegal under Proposition 64. The voter-approved 2016 ballot measure legalized marijuana for adult recreational use and included restrictions on advertisements.