2 publications suing over Colo. pot ad rules

High Times and Westword are challenging Colorado rules that bar recreational marijuana businesses from advertising in most publications.

The Denver Post reports they both filed lawsuits in federal court Monday arguing that the rules violate free speech.

State regulations only allow recreational pot shops to advertise in publications believed to have no more than 30 percent of readers under 21. There are no restrictions on advertising for medical marijuana.

The lawsuit doesn’t state how the publications have been hurt by the rule. The latest issue of Westword, Denver’s alternative weekly, has at least nine ads for recreational marijuana businesses.

Opponents previously succeeded in getting a law requiring marijuana publications to be kept behind store counters struck down in federal court.