http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/bu...05adco.html?em

New York Times
by ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN
Published: November 4, 2009
AFTER Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced in March that he would end the Bush administration practice of frequently raiding medical marijuana dispensaries, the dispensaries have been growing, appropriately enough, like weeds.

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A new print ad for the Hapa Sushi restaurant chain shows its locations among a growing number of medical marijuana stores.

<H2></H2>Among the 14 states with medical marijuana laws, Colorado has experienced particularly brisk growth in the stores. From fewer than two dozen dispensaries in the state in January, there are now more than 60 just in Denver and nearby Boulder, and more than 10,000 registered medical marijuana patients statewide, according to reports in Westword, a Denver alternative weekly.




When Westword announced recently that it would hire a registered patient to write reviews of the dispensaries (for a column called “Mile Highs and Lows”), it received 400 applications, according to Patricia Calhoun, its editor. And dispensary owners — called ganjapreneurs in a recent headline in the weekly — are placing ads, accounting for nearly seven pages of advertising in a recent 92-page issue.
Now a business that has nothing to do with cannabis is aiming its ads at medical marijuana patients. A new print ad — by TDA Advertising and Design of Boulder — for Hapa Sushi, a restaurant chain based in Boulder, features a map of Denver and Boulder with 63 dots. Four dots are red, representing the four Hapa locations, and the remaining 59 are blue, representing medical marijuana dispensaries, some of which, it turns out, are just a stone’s throw from the restaurants. The ad was to appear Thursday in the Denver/Boulder edition of The Onion and in Westword later in the month.
“We’re just kind of saying, ‘Look, these dispensaries exist and they’re becoming part of our community, so let’s welcome them in and have some fun,’ ” said Mark Van Grack, owner of Hapa Sushi, a privately held, 10-year-old chain. “If you’re going to smoke pot, you’re going to get the munchies, so come to Hapa to eat.”
As in most Hapa advertising over the years, something is conspicuously absent from these ads: food.
“Most restaurants show food, but then you’re just one of a hundred,” Mr. Van Grack said. “We think that our clientele appreciates smart ads that grab their attention. By creating ads that people want to talk about, that are creative and maybe controversial, then at least they are talking about our ads and Hapa is top of mind.”