California marijuana lounges could soon serve food and drink under proposed bill

Call it Cal-Amsterdam?

The Dutch capital’s relaxed attitude toward marijuana use in cafes is the model for a California bill that would permit localities to allow cannabis lounges to offer food, drinks or live entertainment.

The author of Assembly Bill 374, San Francisco Democratic Assemblyman Matt Haney, said in an interview with The Bee that his legislation could give a boost to the state’s flagging tourism industry and cannabis retailers.

“Every cannabis retail shop I talk to now is struggling. They are having a hard time competing with the illegal cannabis market,” Haney said.

There’s a similar bill in the Senate, Senate Bill 285, by Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, though it doesn’t cover live entertainment.

The assemblyman said that the existing prohibition against cannabis lounges serving food or drink, or hosting live music or comedy acts, is outdated and misguided.

“There’s also a huge opportunity in cannabis for our tourism and hospitality sector, post-COVID,” he added.

Haney said there are a number of California municipalities that would benefit, including West Hollywood and Haney’s own San Francisco.

“If you look at what’s happening in Amsterdam, you can see what this might look like and you can see the opportunity that exists,” he said.

Haney said his bill differs from Amsterdam’s approach in some ways. For example, coffee shops would not be allowed to sell cannabis. However, cannabis lounges would be allowed to sell coffee.

Haney likened cannabis lounges to wine bars, where people will pay a premium to drink in a social environment.

“And much like California’s wine, California cannabis is something that will draw people here,” he said.

Haney emphasized that his bill doesn’t mandate anything, but only allows local governments to issue licenses as they see fit.

“If a city wants to allow their authorized, legal cannabis shops to sell sandwiches or coffee, the state shouldn’t stand in the way or make that illegal, but that’s what the law is right now,” Haney said.

He added that his bill is important because it changes the perception of cannabis retail as a clinical space — retailers are even called dispensaries.

“Much of our law continues to treat cannabis retailers like clinical settings and that kind of regulatory framework will ultimately drive our cannabis industry into the ground,” Haney said.