Young woman smoking a joint of marijuana while eats coffee and cake for breakfast. Glass jar full of … [+] cannabis buds on the table, blur effect.
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Californians will soon have the opportunity to enjoy their favorite snacks alongside their cannabis, thanks to a new bill that aims to introduce Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes in the Golden State.
A proposed bill that sought to legalize cannabis cafes in California, mirroring the successful model established in Amsterdam to expand and diversify the marijuana industry in the state, finally arrived on the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom this week, who also has to sign a bill that would legalize certain psychedelics in the state.
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Introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) in February, the bill would allow marijuana dispensaries and cannabis lounges in California to offer food and beverages and host live music events, much like the cannabis coffee shops in Amsterdam.
This initiative seeks to support marijuana businesses in a fiercely competitive market by allowing them to diversify, akin to the renowned Amsterdam-style cannabis coffee shops that draw marijuana enthusiasts visiting the Dutch capital. In Dutch cannabis cafes, customers can purchase food and non-alcoholic beverages alongside their cannabis products.
Currently, in California, there are a few cannabis lounges primarily found in San Francisco and Oakland. However, they have limitations. These lounges can only offer cannabis products and can’t provide any other items like food. Nevertheless, some businesses have been finding ways to offer on-site consumption and food to their customers. They’ve been doing this in a gray area, collaborating with separate licensed restaurants.
Assembly Bill 374 proposes changes for dispensaries. Instead of just selling marijuana products and accessories, it would allow cities and counties to allow cannabis businesses to sell things like food and beverages and host live music. However, they cannot sell alcohol.
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The bill was amended to clarify that hemp-based food items or drinks are not categorized as “non-cannabis” products that can be sold at the cafes. It also specifies that non-cannabis items must be kept and shown separately from all cannabis and cannabis products on the premises.
The legislation is currently awaiting approval from Gov. Newsom. It received strong bipartisan support, passing the California Senate with a vote of 33 to 3 last week and the Assembly with a vote of 66 to 9 on Monday, September 11.
After Gov. Newsom signs the bill, local governments can allow cannabis cafes or consumption lounges to offer soft drinks and freshly prepared food at their dispensaries. However, these establishments will still have restrictions on selling prepackaged food to retailers. Selling alcoholic beverages and smoking tobacco will remain prohibited.
If Gov. Newsom approves it, the law will become effective in January.
Haney’s proposal to introduce cannabis cafes in California seems to contrast with the current situation in Amsterdam, where the city council has recently taken action due to complaints from local residents regarding this type of tourism.
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The “Cannabis Cafe” bill has been introduced at a time when public support for marijuana legalization is increasing, with a significant number of people acknowledging their use of the substance.
According to a Gallup survey released last month, 50% of Americans stated that they have experimented with marijuana at some point in their lives.
Longtime Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., has won re-election in California’s 21st Congressional District after more than a week of counting ballots, according to the Associated Press.
He successfully kept his seat against Republican challenger Michael Maher.
The race was one of the final pending House races of the 2024 cycle, called more than a week after Election Day.
Costa has represented the district since 2005, which includes the San Joaquin Valley, but the Democrat’s political work in California stretches back decades.
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REPUBLICANS PROJECTED TO KEEP CONTROL OF HOUSE AS TRUMP PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT AGENDA
Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., speaks during the Bipartisan Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act news conference in the U.S. Capitol.(Bill Clark)
Costa served in the California State Assembly from 1978 to 1994, before being elected to the California State Senate from 1994 to 2002.
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The Democrat faced Republican opposition from California native Michael Maher, a veteran and former FBI agent.
Greg Flynn still has faith in Applebee’s. The owner of Flynn Group, a mega-franchisee of the casual-dining chain as well as several other concepts, still believes there is demand for full-service chain restaurants. He said the sector has been overbuilt with concepts that weren’t well differentiated.
California’s $20 fast-food wage has indeed hurt traffic. Fast-food restaurants in the state have raised their prices at twice the national average, according to Revenue Management Solutions.
Cracker Barrel’s performance is looking up. The casual-dining chain reported two quarters in a row of same-store sales and revenue growth, according to its preliminary Q1 results. Cracker Barrel’s same-store sales were up 2.9% while its revenues were up 2.6%.
TGI Fridays is facing a lawsuit over its recent mass layoffs. Two former employees allege that they were fired without proper notice when the chain closed about 50 restaurants last month.
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Get all the headlines in today’s Restaurant Daily podcast.
More than a week after Election Day, Rep. Michelle Steel is still holding onto her razor-thin lead over Derek Tran in the race for California’s 45th congressional district, as of the latest vote tally posted by the secretary of state Thursday, Nov. 14.
But Tran has further cut into her lead in the nailbiter race. Wednesday’s tally had Steel up by 349 votes. On Thursday, her lead shrunk to just 236.
The Southern California race is currently the closest in the state that has yet to be called.
Of the votes tallied Thursday, Tran, a Democrat, clinched 62% of the results from Los Angeles County, which makes up a small part of the district, while 53% of those results on Thursday from Orange County swung in his favor.
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Steel, the Republican incumbent seeking a third term, was leading by more than 11,000 votes the day after Election Day, but a steady stream of blue ballots counted since that earlier tally has allowed Tran to slash away at her lead.
As of Thursday evening, the Orange County registrar of voters said it had counted more than 1.3 million ballots and estimated that there were more than 74,000 ballots left to process countywide. In Los Angeles County, an estimated 99,400 ballots need to be processed still, according to its elections official.
The race has been trending in Tran’s favor, and it’s likely he could flip the district by a narrow margin, said Christian Grose, a pollster and professor of political science at USC.
However, the margin is tight enough that Steel could still pull off a win, he added.
Both campaigns have prepared for the possibility of a recount in the race, soliciting donations to legal funds from their supporters in recent days. Secretary of State Shirley Weber said if there is a recount — and it yields a different outcome — then local elections officials in both Orange and Los Angeles counties would be required to recertify their results.
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Tran is in Washington, D.C., this week for new member orientation, despite not clinching a congressional victory as of yet. If elected, he would become the first Vietnamese American to represent Orange County’s Little Saigon in Congress.
Neither Steel’s nor Tran’s campaigns commented on the latest vote tallies Thursday evening.
All of the other five congressional races that touch Orange County have already been called. If Tran does unseat Steel, Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, would be the only Republican House member to represent an Orange County district.
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