California Governor Signs Bill Allowing Pot Lounges to Sell Food and Beverages

Customers shop for marijuana products at a cannabis dispensary in Santa Ana, Calif., on Feb. 18, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday approved a bill allowing for cannabis consumption lounges to operate statewide and for retailers to sell food and drink for on-site consumption and host live events.

Assembly Bill 1775, introduced in January 2024, gives local jurisdictions the authority to permit “cannabis cafes.” The law goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025.

Prior to the signing, cannabis retailers with dedicated areas of consumption could sell prepackaged food and beverages if permitted by local law. AB 1775 allows for fresh food and drink service regulated under the purview of the California Retail Food Code and any local requirements.

In 2023, Newsom vetoed a similar bill over concerns that it would contradict California’s smoke-free workplace conditions and undermine the health and safety of cafe workers. The 2024 version took these concerns into consideration.

“I commend the author [Assemblyman Matt Haney, D-San Francisco] for incorporating additional safeguards, such as expressly protecting employees’ discretion to wear a mask for respiration, paid for at the expense of the employer, and requiring employees to receive additional guidance on the risks of secondhand cannabis smoke,” Newsom wrote in his signing statement.

The governor said local governments must prioritize worker safety by requiring dispensaries to provide workers with masks.

The new law blocks retailers from selling products made of industrial hemp.

The California state Senate passed the bill Aug. 27 in a 30–7 vote, and it passed the Assembly the next day on a 63–5 vote.

The cannabis industry lauded the new law.

“This law is a big win for legal shop owners,” Jason Harris, CEO of Jerome Baker Designs, which sells cannabis products in the state, told The Epoch Times. “By serving food and drinks, the law will also help cannabis retailers to better integrate with their communities.”

Critics of the legislation view it as rolling back smoke-free workplace protections. In their view, cafe workers shouldn’t have to put their lives at risk for a paycheck.

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s Managing Director Jim Knox opposed the signing.

“AB 1775 violates Proposition 64, which explicitly states that smoking marijuana is prohibited wherever smoking tobacco is prohibited,” Knox said. “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.”

Prop. 64 is a California ballot measure passed by voters in 2016 that legalized recreational marijuana in the state.

Besides California, Alaska, Colorado, and Illinois have similar laws already on the books allowing indoor consumption, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.