California pot shops will be able to serve food and drinks like Amsterdam “cafes” under new law

Under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this week, Californians will be able to eat, drink and refuel at Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes.

Starting January 1, cities in the Golden State will be able to allow marijuana dispensaries to serve their customers fresh hot food and non-alcoholic beverages and even host live concerts and comedy shows.

“Cannabis cafes will be a big part of the future of cannabis in our state and will help push back the illegal drug market,” Rep. Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), who authored the bill, told the Los Angeles Times.

Stoners can already smoke, vape and sip edible samples at some pharmacies, but stores are only allowed to sell prepackaged snacks and drinks to customers.

The new bill is modeled on that of Amsterdam, where cannabis has been available in coffee shops for half a century, according to the newspaper.

Haney and other bill supporters believe a more relaxed and comfortable cannabis culture could revitalize the state's nightlife scene and provide a much-needed boost to the state's $5 billion marijuana industry.

The bill was supported by the United Fruit and Commercial Workers' Union, whose numbers among dispensary and grower workers are steadily increasing.

But critics claimed the measure would recreate the health risks associated with secondhand smoke, nearly 30 years after California banned indoor cigarette smoking.

Newsom vetoed a bill similar to Monday's bill last year because of health concerns.

“As I outlined in my veto message against a similar measure last year, protecting the health and safety of workers is paramount to maintaining California’s long-standing smoke-free workplace protections,” Newsom said in a statement.

“I commend the author for including additional safeguards, such as explicitly protecting employees' discretion to wear a respiratory mask, paid for at the employer's expense, and requiring employees to provide additional guidance on the risks of secondhand cannabis smoking to receive,” he added.

The American Cancer Society and other public health advocates urged Newsom to veto this year's bill despite the changes, arguing that secondhand smoke has higher particle levels than tobacco smoke.

Those exposed to the smoke could develop heart and lung problems, the organizations said.

Jim Knox, California executive director of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network, says the new law will undo the decades it took to ban smoking in all workplaces.

Californians can “smoke in a restaurant for the first time in 30 years,” Knox told the LA Times.

“This is a big step backwards,” he said.

Knox said his group will shift its fight to the community level, lobbying local governments to “resist efforts that would undermine our history of smoke-free restaurants and roll back important public health protections.”

Pharmacies applying for a permit to serve food and beverages and dispense tobacco to customers must have ventilation systems that prevent “smoke and odors from migrating to other parts of the building in which the consumption lounge is located or to neighboring ones buildings or land.”

In addition to providing respirators, employers must also include secondhand smoke exposure in their injury and illness prevention plans required by California labor law.

Knox called these protections “nonsense” that “underscores that there is a risk to public health.”

“There is very strong evidence from science and industry that you can't isolate smoke – it's not possible,” Knox told the newspaper. “The only way to prevent smoke production is to ban smoking.”

It is “critically important” that local governments put worker safety first when considering permits, Newsom said.

“Failure to provide adequate protection at the local level may require reconsideration of this limited expansion,” he said.