VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The group behind a campaign to legalize marijuana claims a local company is refusing to run its advertisements.

Dana Larsen with Sensible BC says Pattison Outdoor, which owns several billboards around Metro Vancouver, won’t give a reason as to why either.

“So we asked if we could make any changes, if we could take the marijuana leaf out, change the wording, we really were willing to cooperate and they were refusing to get back to us. They said there was no written policy and it was the decision of one person,” he explains.

The group is advertising ahead of a campaign to decriminalize marijuana, which is expected to begin in mid-September. It’s giving volunteers 90 days to sign up 10 per cent of voters in each riding. If successful a 2014 referendum would be held across the province.

“I don’t really understand what the problem is and they refuse to tell us. It’s confusing though because two years ago they ran an ad for a medical marijuana symposium. It had the words medical marijuana and a big cannabis leaf,” Larsen adds.

Larsen says they’ve turned to a different, competing company to run the advertisements.

Calls to The Jim Pattison Group from News1130 have not been returned.