Do You Have A Friend In Weed?

My friend linearthinker sent me this bit about your government in action. I know to a lot of you this may seem stupid, but there you have it. Your government in action.

The City of Weed sounds like something akin to Homer Simpson's Land of Chocolate, but honestly it's just a city in California named after a guy named Abner Weed who founded the town in the late 19th century by picking up land cheap when he dropped a few hundred bucks for a lumber mill near Mt. Shasta. Of course, everything is relative and a few hundred bucks was a considerable sum back then, but I digress... the City of Weed is really known for very few things, one of which is its name. The city founders don't go out of their way to trade in on that name, but plenty of collegiate adventurers have traveled far and wide to have their picture taken next to just about any sign or banner that has Weed, CA. displayed on it. The town's essentially one big in-joke for the 420 crowd and is frequently showcased for a few guffaws on late-night TV monologues, but among its various claims to fame is the current tussle the town is having with the Feds over its... beer.

The Mt. Shasta Brewing Co. is a small microbrewery with big ideas on how to cash in on their location in the town of Weed (they're located on College Ave. which must say something about higher education... haw haw haw, but that's how it goes in good ol' Weed... bad puns, accidental or not, seem to be the coin of the realm in this quiet little mountain town). They frequently have fun with the town's image via their Shastafarian Ale and distinctive labeling on the bottles. What got them in trouble with the Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, as the AP and Los Angeles Times recently reported, is their bottle caps which declare "Try Legal Weed" and a play on that old stoner motto "A Friend in [with] Weed is a Friend Indeed." As you can see here, the caps are obviously having a laugh at the perception of the town's image. Weed is, as the LA Times put it is " no counterculture haven," but still the overall perception persists, so why not have fun with it, right? Well, the Feds, in their drug-war-addled reasoning, see things in shades of black and white rather than gray, and insist that the brewery and the brewery's owner, Vaune Dillmann, are purposefully crossing the line and selling something illegal, or at least putting forth the idea that something illegal might reside in that bottle along with the frothy suds of Mt. Shasta Brewery's Lemurian Lager. As you can see, the law is clearly being broken here:

I dunno about you, but I really fail to see the federal offense.

I think this is a very blatant attempt by the Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to make themselves look totally stupid. Or more like stupider than usual. I think they have a very good chance of succeeding. One point not noted in the above rant. The owner of the brewery, Vaune Dillmann, is a former cop.

BTW may I suggest a visit to the blog at the first link above. There are some totally awesome pictures of a rather scantily clad Mary Louise Parker in some interesting poses illustrating the evils of sex, drugs, and alcohol, which it seems the government has no interest in. The pictures that is. The proprietor of the blog has some theories about why that is.

And if you want to have some of that beer before the Feds take it off the market (or at least a souvenir bottle cap) may I suggest contacting the brewery. Link at the above mentioned blog.

Cross Posted at Classical Values