Marketing Campaign Offers Drivers Free Psychoactive Drugs
(WASHINGTON, DC) – In one of the most bizarre and irresponsible marketing schemes in recent memory, a leading municipal parking payment processor is drawing fire for offering free THC-laced drugs for drivers who use their app.
Last month, ParkMobile sent customers a marketing email offering a free “gift.” Among the selections of items covered by the free “gift,” $50 in credit toward CBD and THC products from Five CBD. Notably, the marketing campaign fails to acknowledge that THC edibles come with the same risks as traditional marijuana, which medical and scientific studies, as well as government data, have conclusively linked with addiction, psychosis, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, suicidality, stroke, and IQ loss, among other impacts.
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen a company that markets to drivers encourage the use of a drug that leads to driver impairment. Who at ParkMobile thought this was a good idea? It’s a dangerous threat to public health and safety,” said Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former White House drug policy advisor to Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton.
“The addiction industry has spent more than a decade telling Americans that not only is THC use not dangerous, but its use even constitutes ‘recreation’. That couldn’t be further from the truth,” Sabet added. “THC-infused products can contain up to 99 percent THC. Marijuana and THC drug products impair judgement, slow reaction time, and affect memory. It is no wonder their legalization and normalization has been associated with a dramatic rise in drugged driving incidents across the country.”
Medical studies increasingly show that THC laced drugs have a 30 percent addiction rate and more Americans are using these drugs daily than drinking alcohol. “Government officials should demand the app eliminate psychoactive drugs from its marketing,” stated Sabet.
Notably, consumers who selected THC and CBD products as part of the ParkMobile promotion were not asked to verify their age or state of residency to “claim [their] gift,” despite varying levels of legality and purchase age requirements in states.
The addiction industry has used THC edibles as a valuable marketing tool to hook a new generation of users on increasingly potent products. The Delta-9 THC products offered through Five CBD come in a variety of flavors including “blue razz” and “red razz.” The website also offers THC infused seltzers, chocolates, and liquid capsules.
According to the most recent available data, there were more than 4,800 poison control calls nationwide in the first 6 months of 2024 related to the ingestion of THC edibles. THC-laced edibles have also been conclusively linked to anxiety, paranoia, psychotic reactions, uncontrolled vomiting (cannabis hyperemesis syndrome), and heart issues.
SAM is calling on ParkMobile to make a donation equal to the amount of the money consumers spent using these “gifts” to a national safe driving campaign that raises awareness about the dangers of drugged driving. SAM has also written to ParkMobile’s executive team urging them to publicly condemn the use of psychoactive drugs and issue a formal apology to consumers for encouraging drug use.