One of the state’s five medical marijuana providers this week sent a letter to Google co-founders protesting Internet company’s rejection of ads advertising their business.
Vireo Health of New York says Google has rejected ads with the words “medical cannabis” and “medical marijuana.”
In rejecting the ads, Google has told the company it does not allow “the promotion of substances that alter mental state for the purpose of recreation” in its advertising.
“We are confident that our advertisements comply with Google’s policy,” wrote company CEO Ari Hoffnung in a letter to Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin on March 15, 2016. “Our products are sold strictly and exclusively for medicinal purposes and in conformance with New York State law.”
Vireo in the letter insisted the company’s rejection of the ads is a misapplication of its policy, and potentially conflicts with antitrust laws.
“It is difficult to understand or justify a policy that will impede a patient’s ability to access information about products that have been approved by the New York State legislature and have been identified as therapeutically beneficial,” Hoffnung wrote in the letter.
“These patients and their caregivers need access to this information, and if Google continues to deny this access, it is clearly contradicting one of its core values.”
Vireo Health of New York Letter to Google – Final by Nick Reisman
