Sponsored by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D – San Francisco), AB 1775, the “Cannabis Cafe” bill, goes into effect on January 1, 2025, and a number of California cannabis operators are already looking ahead to the implementation of this legislation. In Southern California, National City’s only permitted cannabis consumption lounge is expecting to be the first business in San Diego County, and possibly the state, to open and operate a “cannabis cafe” under AB 1775. In Sacramento, the City Council will vote on October 22 whether to move forward with a pilot program for cannabis consumption lounges, and in the City of Hawthorne, at least one retailer is planning for permitted operations for its “cannabis cafe” next year. In San Francisco, the Cannabis Oversight Committee will discuss AB 1775 with the San Francisco Office of Cannabis at our next meeting in November, which is open to the public. While AB 1775 will go into effect on January 1, 2025, local California jurisdictions must first meet all of the following ten (10) conditions before these jurisdictions can allow the activities identified in AB 1775 under the new law:
(1) Age-restricted cannabis consumption area access and posted warnings that cannabis consumption, including smoking of cannabis, is permitted inside.
(2) Cannabis consumption invisible from any public place or nonage-restricted area.
(3) Sale or consumption of alcohol or tobacco is not allowed on the premises.
(4) Noncannabis food or beverage products are not commingled with any cannabis products.
(5) Smoking or vaporizing of any cannabis product by an employee or customer is not allowed in the food preparation, storage, or kitchen areas on the premises.
(6) The local jurisdiction considers whether to require adequate ventilation and filtration systems.
(7) Employees are permitted to wear a mask for respiration in any area where cannabis is smoked, and employers are required to pay for the mask.
(8) When hired, employees who will be working where cannabis is smoked shall be provided the Department of Public Health guidance regarding secondhand cannabis smoke.
(9) A cannabis consumption lounge shall include secondhand smoke in their analysis of potential work hazards for purposes of their injury and illness prevention programs.
(10) Loitering in or around the business is prohibited, and the retailer or microbusiness shall ensure the absence of loitering.
(See subsection (g)(2) of revised BPC Section 26200 in AB 1775.) In the coming weeks, as California local governments, including the Sacramento City Council, meet to consider cannabis consumption lounge pilot programs and whether and how to implement AB 1775, lawmakers’ attention should be focused on what revisions to local cannabis ordinances are needed to meet these ten conditions identified in AB 1775.
