Proposed legislation ordering billboards advertising marijuana dispensaries still up in Indiana be taken down is gaining traction at the statehouse.

A ban was imposed last year but many billboards promoting dispensaries remain because of billboard companies and marijuana shops entering into long term contracts prior to the ban, which went into effect on July 1, said State Representative Jim Pressel-R of Rolling Prairie.

However, Pressel said the U.S. Supreme Court and Indiana Supreme Court has ruled “you can’t have a contract for a criminal activity.”

Marijuana remains against the law in Indiana.

Pressel said the ruling reflected in House Bill 1200 means contracts between billboard providers and marijuana dispensaries signed prior to the ban are null and void.

“As long as it’s illegal in Indiana there is no binding contract that can be done,” he said.

The bill closing the loophole orders the signs be taken down by October 1. Pressel, who helped push through last year’s ban, is now sponsoring the proposed legislation, which applies to billboards not covered by the previous restrictions.

Currently, the bill is before the state senate committee on Homeland Security and Transportation after passing out of the full house on February 2 by a slightly more than two to one margin.

Pressel also said he spoke to representatives and attorneys for Lamar Advertising Company, one of the largest billboard advertising providers statewide.  He said the firm has promised not to put up a legal challenge over the proposed legislation if it’s passed and signed into law by the governor.

“They would not litigate and would take them down,” he said.

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