A South Portland, Maine, recreational cannabis retailer has run afoul of the state’s marijuana regulator over its logo, which depicts a mermaid holding a shell.
SeaWeed Co. owner Scott Howard faces a $10,000 fine over the “willful use of a prohibited image,” the Portland Press Herald reported.
Maine’s recreational cannabis rules prohibit labeling that depicts humans or animals and also ban promotions considered “attractive to persons under 21 years of age.”
A December notice to SeaWeed from Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy (OMP) highlighted the depiction of both an animal and a person and warned that “images of mermaids have inherent and particular appeal to individuals under 21 years of age,” according to the Press Herald.
Howard was given four months from the notice date to pay the fine and has been ordered by the OMP to stop using the mermaid logo on its products, website and promotional materials.
The store owner told the Press Herald he considers the OMP’s rules to be “vague and open to interpretation.”
SeaWeed’s case is currently the only one related to marijuana labeling and promotional restrictions in Maine, the state’s Office of the Attorney General told the newspaper.
The company was one of first adult-use licensees in Maine, which launched recreational marijuana sales last October.
