A restaurant chain in Moscow has been fined for violating the law by depicting a cannabis leaf on a beer menu.
The Moscow prosecutor’s office said it fined the restaurant $13,700 for “a graphic depiction of cannabis leaves, as well as a textual description of the said plant used in the preparation of the sold alcoholic product.” Advertising drugs, including “plants containing narcotics,” is an administrative offense in Russia.
“We’re hostages of the situation,” the RBC business portal quoted Arkady Pogosov, the head of the managing company that owns the Gambrinus beer restaurant.
The hemp-flavored Swiss beer Hanfblüte is legally distributed and sold throughout Russia, Pogosov said Monday, pointing out that the restaurant has “to inform the consumer about the contents of the products sold.”