This Russian bar was fined £10,000 for advertising cannabis beer

The Moscow branch of a European pub chain has been fined after it printed menus which included a “graphic depiction” of cannabis leaves advertising a hemp beer.

The name of the beer means “hemp flower” in English.

The picture of the plant was placed next to the description of the Swiss-made Hanfblute beer, which translates to “hemp flower” in English.

Advertising drugs, including “plants containing narcotics,” is an administrative offence in Russia.

The Moscow prosecutor’s office said it charged Gambrinus Bar — which also has sites in Madrid and Lisbon — 840,000 rubles (£10,200) for using menus which contain “graphic and textual material contributed…focused on the use of substances banned in the Russian Federation,” according to a statement issued on Monday.

Disagreeing with the decisions of the Perovskiy District Court of Moscow on cases of administrative violations, Arkadi Pogosov, the general director of the managing company which owns Gambrinus owner  appealed to the Moscow City Court, which was not upheld.

“The beer was purchased officially from the importer through the EGAIS, which records all the transactions for the sale of alcohol,” Pogosov told RBC, adding that he believed the firm and chain were “hostages of the situation.”

“We are hostages of the situation. The goods are allowed for sale in Russia, and we must bring to the consumer information on the composition of products sold.”