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Humorous PSAs target Colorado smokers with serious message

Posted at 11:17 PM, Mar 10, 2014
and last updated 2014-03-10 23:19:11-04

DENVER – The state of Colorado has launched a million-dollar ad campaign in an effort to warn drivers to not drive high.

Officials have used humor to spread a serious message, not unlike #OperationOrangeFingers that was deployed by Seattle Police to spread public safety messages at a Hempfest last year.

Paid for by the Colorado Department of Transportation, the ad campaign is the state’s first push to remind drivers that marijuana should be treated like alcohol; that both impair your judgment and both can land you in jail.

There were 61 arrests made for impaired driving in Colorado during January, and more than half involved someone driving high, according to the Today show.

Forecasting marijuana sales to bud into a $500 million industry, officials said they hope these new ads will remind folks not to smoke weed and drive.

Coloradoraked in about $2 million from taxes on recreational marijuana in January, the first month it was legal to sell non-medicinal pot in the state.