First national marijuana commercial airs on TV

The first national marijuana commercial aired Monday on Comcast, a major U.S. television network.

It is the first time a popular cable operator has shown a commercial about the medicinal plant, according to MarijuanaDoctors.com, a company that puts people in touch with pot-prescribing doctors in the 21 states where selling marijuana is legal.

The cannabis advertisement aired in New Jersey, and is expected to air in more states over the next several months. In the next two weeks alone it will appear on New Jersey televisions more than 800 times.

The commercial shows a street dealer lurking about, trying to sell sushi. A voiceover ends the commercial, saying, "You wouldn't buy your sushi from this guy, so why would you buy your marijuana from him?"

The advertisement is for MedicalDoctors.com, with a slogan saying they are simple, confidential and safe.

The company founder, Jason Draizin, defends the commercial.

"We felt the viewing public would agree that in the states providing safe access, continuing to obtain medicine illegally is as absurd as purchasing raw fish from a drug dealer," he explained, according to TheSpec.com.

Draizin said in an interview with The Star that the company will launch their website in Canada in 60 to 90 days, and that there is apparently a great demand for marijuana in our northern-border country.

"We have an overwhelmingly large wait list of (Canadian) patients who contacted us," Draizin said. "And we've had quite a few doctors inquire about how to list with us. So we're really excited."

There are about 37,500 licensed medicinal users in Canada, and that number is expected to rise to about 450,000 by 2024.

Once medicinal marijuana regulations take full effect April 1, the company will jump-start the Canadian version. Under the new rules, medicinal marijuana users will have to fill their prescriptions with a licensed grower, and can no longer grow it themselves or buy it from the Canadian government.