His publisher wanted to use Facebook to tout a special deal on his book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? only to discover that the social-media giant wouldn't allow ads to support it.
Tvert, the man behind Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), and co-author of the tome with Steve Fox and Paul Armentano, explains via e-mail.
The book "just reached 500,000 fans on Facebook," he notes. "So to celebrate, our publisher" -- Chelsea Green Publishing -- "is offering copies for just $5.99. They wanted to promote this offer via Facebook, but Facebook is prohibiting them from posting FB ads about it. Their sole reason is that it pertains to marijuana. Yet Facebook always posts sample ads on our FB page offering us the opportunity to run an ad almost identical to the one rejected."
As proof, Tvert offers the following screen capture:
A post announcing this development on the Marijuana Is Safer Facebook page ends with, "WTF? This won't be the last you hear about this..."Coming from Tvert, that's not a threat. It's a promise.
More from our Marijuana archive: "Marijuana legalization: Mason Tvert touts initiative process openness, seeks more input."