First medical marijuana commercial airs in New Jersey

New Jersey became the first U.S. state this week to see televised ads for a medical marijuana service, the company behind the spot said.
The one-minute ad — which airs on select Comcast cable networks between the stoner-friendly hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. — features a shady salesman pushing contraband sushi.
"You wouldn't buy sushi from this guy, so why would you buy your marijuana from him?" a voiceover says.The ads are meant to convey the importance of obtaining pot from a licensed physician, said Jason Draizin, CEO of MarijuanaDoctors.com, an online portal that connects patients seeking medical marijuana with physicians who can provide it.

The commercial, which can be seen on MarijuanaDoctors.com, was produced in 2011 but the company had not purchased air time until now, Draizin said, because it was waiting for populous East Coast states such as New Jersey and Massachusetts to legalize the drug for medical purposes.
New Jersey began permitting medical marijuana use in 2010, and Massachusetts in 2012.
About 30 channels including A&E, Bravo, CNBC, ESPN, Fox and the Food Network will pick up the ad, Draizin said, adding that it would not air on "family-oriented" networks.
Political ads for legalizing medical marijuana have aired on major networks in the past, but the Florida-based company says it believes its ad is the first for a commercial service.