SAN FRANCISCO COULD JOIN the growing number of California cities that allow food and drinks to be consumed at licensed cannabis cafes.
County Board of Supervisors President and District 8 representative Rafael Mandelman said Monday that he will introduce an ordinance during the Board of Supervisors’ regular meeting Tuesday to amend several city codes to allow such businesses.
“We need to support our legal cannabis industry,” said Mandelman at a press conference on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Monday morning. “Too often and in too many ways in San Francisco and in California, we do the opposite.”
A state law in 2024 authored by Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, paved the way for local jurisdictions to sell goods at dispensaries that aren’t necessarily infused with cannabis, including regular pastries, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.
Mandelman’s proposed ordinance would amend city codes related to health, police, planning and taxes to pave the way for permitting the cafes.
Such sales had previously been banned under state law, even after on-site cannabis consumption was legalized.
“It made no sense,” Haney said at the press conference. “You couldn’t sell a croissant, a bagel, a coffee, let alone create the kind of diversity in offering that would allow a business to actually survive and thrive.”
The two lawmakers appeared along with local cannabis business owners and advocates who have been pushing for more normalization and incorporation of cannabis into the hospitality sector.
Haney has referred to the cafes as “Amsterdam-style” cafes, referencing the famed Dutch coffee shops there known for being frequented by tourists and helping define the legal cannabis experience.
He said Monday that San Francisco had a chance to create a reputation as a leader in the global cannabis industry.
“This is also about the culture and the community and what it means for us to be a place that shapes what cannabis culture looks like for the entire world,” he said.
The cities of San Diego, West Hollywood and Sacramento have already opened cafes following the passage of Haney’s Assembly Bill 1775.
Sales of legal cannabis in the state have sagged by 20% since 2021, according to Haney. That has led to a scramble of reforms in recent years of tax laws and regulations at the state and local level.
Will Dolan, the owner of the cannabis dispensary Hyrba, located in the Outer Sunset neighborhood, said the change could let him finally open a cafe he has planned in the Mission District.
“This legislation will allow me to finally realize me dream of opening a space at the crossroads of cannabis and hospitality, where the community can gather, consume cannabis, and enjoy such things as coffee, light bites, a snack and entertainment, such as music or standup comedy,” Dolan said at the press conference.
Drakari Donaldson, co-owner of the California Street Cannabis Company, which has multiple locations in the city, similarly said allowing the cafes could help legal cannabis sellers offer a better experience and compete in a “very challenging market.”