The Mets might drive you to smoke.
SNY’s telecasts are now airing cannabis ads as some angered fans might be feeling they have to get tuned up to want to tune in to the last place New York Mets.
But the marijuana spots are getting some viewers smoking mad because they could reach kids and other viewers under 21, who are banned from buying legal cannabis.
“10% off orders over $150. Only during Happy Hour — 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday-Friday,” the Strain Stars 30-second spot says in a message that blares across the TV with music in the background.
“Free items for the first 10 customers. At all 3 Strains Stars Locations. Every single day.”
Viewers can see glass-enclosed flowered pot in the ad.
Strain Stars has stores in Farmingdale, Riverhead and White Plains. The ad has appeared periodically during SNY’s televised Mets games including on May 18.
Greg Hach, a Republican running for Congress in New York’s third congressional district, blamed New York’s Democratic politicians and regulators for exposing young baseball fans to marijuana.
“It’s a wholesome American tradition — baseball,” said Hach, who’s running a district that encompassed covering parts of Nassau County and Queens. “We WANT kids tuning into it. But do we want them watching cannabis ads?
“What happened to wholesome?” Hach said. “NY Democrats carved out a loophole to allow weed ads on sports TV, knowing full well that kids watch baseball games. Shame on them.”
While understanding many adults like legalization, Hach said parents don’t want’s their teenage kids becoming pot smokers.
“You know why? Because study after study is showing that marijuana can seriously damage young brains,” Hach told The Post, saying he was calling for an outright ban on the ads.
Arsh Singh, co-owner of Strain Stars, said his firm is permitted by state regulators to advertise on sports telecasts to promote legal cannabis.
“It’s to grow awareness for the legal market,” Singh said. “We do not target the younger demographic.”
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He said the ads target adults in their 30s and 40s.
There are now 664 licensed adult-use cannabis stores in New York State, some of which also offer delivery services for weed buyers.
New York’s legal market recently topped $5 million in daily sales, though sources said the illicit market is still huge.
The Cannabis Control Board approved new marketing rules in 2022 that allow TV ads but bar targeting minors with cartoon characters, celebrities or toy images and bar promoting products with such commonplace vernacular as “stoner,” “chronic,” “weed” or “pot.”
The state Office of Cannabis Management had no immediate comment.
Hach is facing off in the Republican primary against heavily favored former Assemblyman Michael Lipetri for the right to take on Democrat Tom Suozzi in the general election. Lipetri nearly upset Suozzi two years ago, losing by only 3-percentage points in the swing district.
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