Brewer Fined For Promoting Drug Use

ATF Says "Try Legal Weed" Is A Drug Reference; Brewery Owner: "It's Just Our Town's Name."

(AP)  Vaune Dillmann thought the wording on his bottle caps was just a clever play on the name of the Northern California town where he brews his beer - Weed.

Federal alcohol regulators thought differently. They have ordered Dillmann to stop selling beer bottles with caps that say "Try Legal Weed."

While reviewing the proposed label for Dillmann's latest beer, Lemurian Lager, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau said the message on the caps he has been using for his five current beers amounts to a drug reference.

In a letter explaining its decision, the agency, which regulates the brewing industry, said the wording could "mislead consumers about the characteristics of the alcoholic beverage."

Dillmann scoffs at the notion that his label has anything to do with smoking pot.

"I've never tried marijuana in my life," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I don't advocate that. It's just our town's name."

The town of 3,000, sitting beneath Mount Shasta about 230 miles north of the state capital, takes its name from Abner Weed, a timber baron who opened a lumber mill there in 1901 and eventually was elected to the state Senate.

Dillmann, 61, started the Mount Shasta Brewing Co. in 2004. He said he has always used the town's name on his beers and named the company's first official brew Abner Weed's Pale Ale.

His bottle labels follow a long tradition of exploiting the town's name. Even city officials do it.

A sign posted on the way out of town reads, "Temporarily Out of Weed," while another says "100 Percent Pure Weed." Dillmann noted those examples in an appeal letter he sent to the alcohol bureau.

Once, Dillmann said, his wife, a former teacher, was delayed on a field trip to San Francisco as tourists clamored to pose next to the school bus, which said "Weed High."

But illegal drugs are no joke to the federal agency, which maintains meticulous rules about labeling. Drug references on alcoholic beverages were banned in 1994, agency spokesman Art Resnick said.

"We protect consumers of alcohol beverages against misleading advertising and labeling," he said.

He said the agency is reviewing Dillmann's appeal.

The Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association, which represents 1,100 craft brewers nationwide, said the Tax and Trade Bureau seems to have become more aggressive in recent years. It has gone after brewers for seemingly innocuous claims, such as descriptions that say one beer is stronger than another, said association director Paul Gatza.

"We're seeing the TTB starting to poke around at breweries' Web sites and issuing letters," he said. "Our trade association is feeling like TTB is overstretching a little bit."

Gatza said a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the 1980s protected truthful speech on beer labels.

Meanwhile, Dillmann has placed a rush order on unmarked bottle caps so he can keep bottling while he awaits word from the federal agency on his appeal. He has enlisted the help of his congressman, Republican Rep. Wally Herger, who has asked the agency to explain why it rejected Dillmann's bottle cap labels.

The decision banning the "Try Legal Weed" caps came just after Dillmann had placed an order for 400,000 of them, at a cost of about $10,000. It took him four years to go through the first batch of bottle caps, but Dillmann said his sales have been increasing steadily.

Still, the native of Milwaukee said he wonders how some other brewers have gotten away with the names for their products, such as Hemp Ale or Dead Guy Ale. And he can't understand how his label has run afoul of federal alcohol regulators who must surely be aware of one of the most famous advertising slogans in American marketing: "This Bud's for you."

[thomas22ee]

According to the ''PETER PRINCIPLE'', INEFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT will focus simple issues due to their level of INCOMPETENCE. AND THIS SIMPLY INANE.

[honestabe8]

i wonder if they had put "Try Weed Beer" would the drug war pukes have had a hissy fit over it? on a related note, it is time to end this silliness. organize and communicated...this "reefer madness" drivel is bulldung...and those who administer it, are corrupt pukes

[honestabe8]

sincebyjake: i own a copy of it. also, the first two seasons of "weeds"

[grammawhamma]

LOL! I think think this guy was very creative and clever. Geez...the name of the town is Weed. IMO he came up with the perect slogan. Lighten up ATF.

[kansas1946]

Federal alcohol regulators thought differently. They have ordered Dillmann to stop selling beer bottles with caps that say "Try Legal Weed."
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The usual stupidity that goes on with anything attached to the drug war. Our local Lions Club makes a big issue (and spends many of their dollars) fighting "ditch" weed. They they brag about how much good the are doing for the "children."
BS. They are doing nothing. There money would be better spent supporting a women and children''s shelter if they really want to help the children.

"Ditch" weed has practically none of the active ingredient that can make you high. You might as well smoke a dandylion. But it sounds good.
Now these goofy drug thugs are going to try and make the word "weed" illegal. That are pitiful.

[kansas1946]

Federal alcohol regulators thought differently. They have ordered Dillmann to stop selling beer bottles with caps that say "Try Legal Weed."
*******************************

The usual stupidity that goes on with anything attached to the drug war. Our local Lions Club makes a big issue (and spends many of their dollars) fighting "ditch" weed. They they brag about how much good the are doing for the "children."
BS. They are doing nothing. There money would be better spent supporting a women and children''s shelter if they really want to help the children.

"Ditch" weed has practically none of the active ingredient that can make you high. You might as well smoke a dandylion. But it sounds good.
Now these goofy drug thugs are going to try and make the word "weed" illegal. That are pitiful.

[eggy1620]

So according to the ATF%u2019s reasoning, if the brew actually had cannabis in it, the cap would be okay.

[sincebyjake]

LOL. Have you ever seen Grass? If not, it''s a good one.

[honestabe8]

sincebyjake: gosh, that would have been a huge surprise to william f. buckley

[sincebyjake]

isn''''t beer drinking in and of itself "drug use"?

this would be like giving out speeding tickets at the Indy 500


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Posted by honestabe8 at 12:26 PM : Apr 24, 2008

Good point. But everyone knows only communists smoke marijuana.

[honestabe8]

isn''t beer drinking in and of itself "drug use"?

this would be like giving out speeding tickets at the Indy 500

[sincebyjake]

The problem though is that marijuana is catagorized with those drugs, and bogusly taught through our society that it is "bad for you", without any actual facts. And CBS provides BS info through WebMD in articles about this or that could cause problem through mj use. One of them a couple weeks ago claims that marijuana and oral s ex could cause cancer. ***!!!! What were they smoking?!?!?!


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Posted by rushman71 at 11:09 AM : Apr 24, 2008

There are too many morons. The majority of Christians believe that the bible is nonfiction. What does that tell you? People will believe anything you tell them, as long as they have something to support/stand for that a bunch of other people will support. The world is like high school, and for the past century, nearly, it''s been "cool" to be against drugs, so the morons throw all "drugs" together and say "BAD!"

[honestabe8]

sincebyjake: i''m 51 and have been through my partying phase a long time ago. escaped without a DUI, although most of my friends have them.

[rushman71]

Drugs such as meth, crack, heroine, endanger the user and anyone/ anyone''''s property in the vicinity of the user. I believe that those drugs are wrong to use.
Posted by sincebyjake

The problem though is that marijuana is catagorized with those drugs, and bogusly taught through our society that it is "bad for you", without any actual facts. And CBS provides BS info through WebMD in articles about this or that could cause problem through mj use. One of them a couple weeks ago claims that marijuana and oral s ex could cause cancer. ***!!!! What were they smoking?!?!?!

[sincebyjake]

btw, I''ve never used meth, crack, or heroine.

[sincebyjake]

sincebyjake: pretty much the same as my experience, except that my drinking is way less than yours. mine is about 1 or 2 beers a week.


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Posted by honestabe8 at 10:55 AM : Apr 24, 2008

Explanation: I''m 20. I like to party.

[sincebyjake]

There are some things that are wrong in and of themselves...is drug use one of them?


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Posted by honestabe8 at 10:42 AM : Apr 24, 2008

Whenever I consider a question like this, I look at the ideal that I have that I wish that everyone could understand and accept: Any person is free to do anything he or she wants, as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of another (or harm the earth, animals, etc.). There are some drugs that I have used that I can say if I were driving on them, that would be reckless, and it is possible that I could not control my actions, thus, endangering others. Marijuana is not one of them. Drugs such as meth, crack, heroine, endanger the user and anyone/ anyone''s property in the vicinity of the user. I believe that those drugs are wrong to use.

[honestabe8]

sincebyjake: pretty much the same as my experience, except that my drinking is way less than yours. mine is about 1 or 2 beers a week.

[rushman71]

"Hey Watamala, what do ya say?"

"I just got back from the otta dafay"

"Otta dafay? What''s an otta dafay?"

"It''s what you otta not do, but ya do anyway!!!"

[sincebyjake]

Good point abe. Yes. Judging from personal experience, less alcohol would be consumed. i.e. When I use the two together, 3 or 4 beers is plenty. On the other hand, when solely drinking, 6-8 is generally how much I would drink. For many smokers, though, it''s one or the other, the majority opting to smoke (again, in my experience).