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California municipalities can allow cannabis businesses to open cafes where patrons can consume cannabis on-site while also being served non-cannabis-infused food and beverages.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1775 into law yesterday, allowing specific cannabis retailers to prepare and sell non-cannabis food and beverages, as well as host live events and sell tickets at their licensed locations, similar to coffee shops in Amsterdam.
The new legislation allows licensed cannabis retailers and microbusinesses in California to sell non-cannabis food and beverages and host live performances in areas designated for on-site cannabis consumption, pending local approval. It prohibits the sale of products containing industrial hemp and restricts cannabis use to those 21 and over, with proper ventilation required. Modeled after Amsterdam’s cannabis cafes, the initiative aims to help cannabis businesses diversify and compete by expanding their offerings.
Previously, California’s legal marijuana outlets couldn’t sell food and beverages. The new bill will take effect next year.
Gov. Newsom vetoed a previous version of the bill last year over concerns about smoke-free workplace protections. He encouraged the author of the bill, Assemblyman Matt Haney, Democrat of San Francisco, to revise it. The version signed Monday includes a provision ensuring employees are informed about the risks of secondhand smoke and allowed to wear masks.
However, critics expressed concern that the legislation could normalize public smoking and benefit the tobacco industry. For example, Jim Knox, managing director of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), voiced strong disappointment with the decision.
“As the nation’s leading cancer patient advocacy organization, ACS CAN is deeply disappointed that the California Legislature and Gov. Newsom prioritized the marihuana industry’s interests over public health. AB 1775 violates Proposition 64, which explicitly states that smoking marijuana is prohibited wherever smoking tobacco is prohibited. It also undermines the state’s smoke-free restaurants law and compromises its enforcement, thus threatening to roll back decades of hard-won protections of everyone’s right to breathe clean, smoke-free air,” he said in a press statement.
The cannabis cafe bill was signed a week after Gov. Newsom enacted an emergency ban on all hemp THC products in California. Approved by the Office of Administrative Law, the ban immediately prohibits the sale of hemp THC products, effectively cracking down a relevant product category in the state’s cannabis industry.
Newsom defended the hemp THC ban, citing concerns that lax regulations allowed minors to access intoxicating products. He stressed the ban aims to prevent the psychoactive effects of hemp, especially to protect children.
Los Angeles Times reports that the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, a hemp business advocacy organization, and other hemp businesses challenged Newsom’s emergency hemp THC ban in court. Comedy duo Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, also known as Cheech & Chong, joined forces and filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Public Health through their company Cheech & Chong’s Cannabis Co. They aim to overturn the ban on any detectable THC in hemp products, including delta-8 THC found in supplements, food, and beverages.
Effective until March 2025, the ban is labeled an “interim” measure while lawmakers refine regulations.
California’s increased acceptance of cannabis use and the crackdown on THC-containing hemp reflects an ongoing ‘battle’ between the cannabis and hemp industries over the legal definition and regulation of intoxicating hemp products.
This debate focuses on whether to close a loophole in the 2018 farm bill that would potentially allow the sale of psychoactive hemp products with minimal regulation.
Some cannabis companies seek to close the loophole to reduce competition, while the hemp industry wants to keep the current definition of hemp, advocating for stricter safety regulations instead. Lawmakers are split on the issue, which is set to be a key topic in the upcoming farm bill.
“}]] The new legislation allows licensed cannabis retailers and microbusinesses in California to sell non-cannabis food and beverages and host live performances in areas de… Read More