On Tuesday, CBS reportedly rejected a proposed Super Bowl LIII ad focusing on legalizing medical marijuana. The commercial, produced by Acreage Holdings, depicts three people who assert that the usage of medical marijuana has improved the quality of daily life. The people including a young boy who suffers from seizures and his family, a man addicted to opiods, and a veteran dealing with pain following the amputation of his leg. You can watch it below. Acreage Holdings offered to pay $5 million for the commercial to run but was turned down becuase CBS does not allow any marijuana ads to air, according to TMZ. CBS is set to broadcast Super Bowl LIII between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Feb. 3.<doc-sep>Budweiser and other beer companies got the green light, as usual, but CBS won't be airing any pro-marijuana commercials when the New England Patriots square off against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on February 3rd. As reported earlier this week, Acreage Holdings, the multi-state cannabis company backed by John Boehner, says CBS rejected their commercial which calls for the legalization of medical marijuana. Today, TMZ Sports has revealed footage of the banned commercial. It includes stories of several people from all walks of life - each of whom explains the benefits of medical marijuana. Acreage reportedly submitted the pro-marijuana proposal to CBS, but they were turned away after the network saw a rough outline of the ad. Per Bloomberg: The advertisement aimed to “create an advocacy campaign for constituents who are being lost in the dialogue,” Acreage President George Allen said. Super Bowl airtime would have been the best way to achieve this, he added. “It’s hard to compete with the amount of attention something gets when it airs during the Super Bowl,” Allen said in a telephone interview, according to Bloomberg. 30 states have already made medical marijuana use legal, but the goal of Acreage's ad is to push for legalization on the federal level.<doc-sep>You won't be seeing any medical marijuana ads during Super Bowl LIII. Pepsi? It rots your stomach, but sure. Budweiser? Rots your liver, but it wouldn't be the Super Bowl without it. But at least for this year, medical marijuana got a hard no. A cannabis company called Acreage Holdings that counts John Boehner—yeah, that John Boehner—as one of its board members submitted storyboards for an ad about medical marijuana to CBS to run during commercial breaks. In return, Acreage Holdings said it received a rejection email saying, "CBS will not be accepting any ads for medical marijuana at this time." "At this time"—at this time in America, 33 states plus D.C. have voted to legalize medical marijuana, despite its federal classification as a Schedule I controlled substance. A Quinnipiac University poll found that 89 percent of U.S. adults are in favor of medical cannabis use. Football players themselves are slowly opening up about how it helps them manage their pain in the place of prescription drugs, and cannabis is being studied as a treatment for CTE caused by concussions—vital for a sport that batters its players' brains. However, CBS's broadcasting standards prevent it from accepting cannabis-related advertising, a CBS spokesperson told USA Today. "We’re not particularly surprised that CBS and/or the NFL rejected the content," Acreage president George Allen said. "And that is actually less a statement about them and more we think a statement about where we stand right now in this country." The ad itself was a PSA that shared the stories of three medical marijuana users: a boy with Dravet syndrome who suffered from seizures, a man with an opioid addiction, and a veteran who lost part of a leg while serving. They said medical marijuana helped them overcome the symptoms and pain that were dominating their lives. The ad urged viewers to call their congressional representatives to advocate for change, and noted in fine print that the testimonials were not evaluated by the FDA and that marijuana is a Schedule I drug. Acreage said the ad did not try to hawk cannabis products. It plans to post it online for anyone curious as to what marijuana advertising might look like once broadcasting standards catch up to the rest of America. Of course, the story generated from CBS's rejection is nearly as buzzy as buying a $5 million ad slot. It seems like CBS is lightyears behind the times—who's even fussed about medical marijuana these days? Nearly two-thirds of Americans support the legalization of recreational weed. But this is the Super Bowl. It marks another year for Colin Kaepernick's banishment from the NFL. It's the year the NFL called up dry toast band Maroon 5 to play the halftime show in Atlanta before realizing its error; it has since added Travis Scott and Atlanta rapper Big Boi to the lineup. And Tom Brady is back. America's big football night is more of the same and a whole lot of nothing new. Someday, a medical marijuana ad might seem as mundane as an ad for psoriasis treatment. But this year, at this time, we don't get the opportunity to judge that for ourselves. It looks like we'll be stuck arguing about whether the Doritos commercial is genius or disturbing or both. Sarah Rense Sarah Rense is the Lifestyle Editor at Esquire, where she covers tech, food, drinks, home, and more. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>The ad was pitched by the cannabis company Acreage Holdings. As the nation continues to reshape its laws and views regarding marijuana, Super Bowl LIII will remain weed free. According to Craig Giammona of Bloomberg, CBS rejected a proposed ad for the Super Bowl that was going to focus on legalizing medical marijuana. The outline for the commercial was pitched by Acreage Holdings, one of the most valuable cannabis companies in the country that operates in about 15 states. The spot was going to focus on a veteran dealing with combat injuries and a child who suffers from seizures. The goal was to "create an advocacy campaign for constituents who are being lost in the dialogue," Acreage president George Allen told Bloomberg. The ad was geared to be a "call to political action" and not just a promotion for Acreage Holdings. CBS did not respond to Bloomberg's request for comment on Monday, which was a national holiday. The network will broadcast Super Bowl LIII between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Feb. 3.<doc-sep>
Along with a great game of football, each year, millions of viewers tune in to the Super Bowl for the commercials. Ads for the highly-sought after spots for those with the capital to meet the hefty price tag can be vetoed by the broadcasting company, which is what a cannabis company said happened to its commercial. George Allen, the president of Acreage Holdings, a multi-state cannabis company, told Bloomberg that the advertisement's goal was to create an advocacy campaign for the people who are being lost in the dialogue surrounding the legalization of marijuana. Among the people included in that description were people seeking to use marijuana to help treat seizures, pain and other medical conditions. The commercial, according to Bloomberg, would have featured two people who benefitted from using medicinal cannabis. One of the subjects was a veteran with combat injuries and the other was a child who had seizures. Allen told Bloomberg that the ad was a "call to political action" and not a pitch for the brand. He added that the company fully believed that with the ability to pay for the spot, the commercial had a real chance at being broadcast. "It's hard to compete with the amount of attention something gets when it airs during the Super Bowl," Allen said. Newsweek reached out to CBS and the company declined to comment on the advertisement. However, policy guidelines for advertising with local CBS channels outline that ads may not "promote or facilitate" illegal drugs and the use of marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes is still prohibited on a federal level. An estimated 103.4 million people watched the Super Bowl in 2018 and the annual spectacle always provides a large national audience. The massive audience creates an ideal advertising space for many companies, but Super Bowl commercials are also a large financial commitment. About two weeks before the game, executives told Fox Business that CBS sold more than 90 percent of the slots available for the game and is expected to make more $500 million in advertising revenue. Adweek reported CBS was selling 30-second spots for $5 million or more and Pizza Hut, PepsiCo, Pringles and Jaguar already signed on to advertise during the game. Super Bowl LIII will be played in Atlanta on February 3 with kickoff starting at 6:30 p.m. EST. After two controversial games that both went into overtime, the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams secured their spots in the final game of the 2018 NFL season. This will be the 10th time the Patriots are playing in the Super Bowl. The team was in the big game in 2018 but lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Rams have been in the Super Bowl three times and won the championship title in 2000, which they played against the Tennessee Titans.