San Francisco to Consider Allowing Cannabis Cafes
- San Francisco officials are considering allowing cannabis cafes, with Rafael Mandelman planning to introduce an ordinance to amend city codes for these businesses.
- The proposed amendments would address health, law enforcement, planning, and tax regulations related to cannabis cafes.
- Statewide legalization of food and drink sales at cannabis cafes occurred in 2024, permitting the sale of non-cannabis items like pastries and non-alcoholic beverages, with cafes already open in several California cities.
- Assemblymember Matt Haney highlighted that legal cannabis sales have dropped 20% since 2021, and social-use cannabis businesses could help revitalize the industry and foster community culture.
Officials in San Francisco, California, will soon consider allowing cannabis cafes, Bay City News reports. Rafael Mandelman, County Board of Supervisors president and District 8 representative, indicated that he planned to introduce an ordinance to the board this week to amend city codes to allow the businesses.
“We need to support our legal cannabis industry. Too often and in too many ways in San Francisco and in California, we do the opposite.” — Mandelman, via Bay City News
Mandelman indicated the proposal would amend city codes related to health, law enforcement, planning, and taxes.
Allowing food and drink sales at cannabis cafes was legalized statewide in 2024. The businesses can sell non-cannabis products such as pastries, snacks, and non-alcoholic beverages. So far, cannabis cafes have opened in Sacramento, San Diego, and West Hollywood.
According to state Assemblymember Matt Haney (D), who authored the bill to legalize cannabis cafes, legal cannabis sales in California have fallen by 20% since 2021, and social-use businesses could help reinvigorate the industry.
“This is also about the culture and the community,” Haney said during a press conference Monday, “and what it means for us to be a place that shapes what cannabis culture looks like for the entire world.”