Sacramento's cannabis lounge pilot program passes in city council vote
SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento City Council has given the green light for a cannabis lounge pilot program.
City leaders passed an ordinance in a controversial 5 to 4 decision — with Mayor Darrell Steinberg casting the deciding vote — that will allow the social consumption of marijuana at select dispensaries.
A new California law gives cities and counties the power to allow cannabis lounges, also known as Amsterdam-style cafes.
Sacramento now joins places like West Hollywood and San Francisco in allowing this new type of business. The idea has faced some pushback.
On Monday, ahead of the city council discussion, Councilmember Eric Guerra joined health experts at a press conference to argue there would be negative health impacts to the program.
"The proposed recreational smoke lounges sets us back and only normalizes the issue and the damages caused by second-hand smoke," Guerra said.
At least one Sacramento dispensary CBS13 profiled in October has already built a room that owners hope could be turned into the city's first pot lounge.
Maisha Bahati, the owner of Crystal Nugs, said her midtown dispensary is ready to go with a new "doobie den."
"When we built out our dispensary, we built a 1,400-square-foot negative pressure room and so we've just been holding it. We've been waiting," Bahati said.
Still, along with the pushback from Guerra, the cannabis lounge idea also saw opposition from groups like the American Cancer Society.
The pilot project allows up to 40 new cannabis cafes to open inside existing dispensaries. The city said the lounges could also generate more tax revenue and even bring new cannabis tourism to town.
The special city council meeting for further discussion on the cannabis lounge pilot program started at 2 p.m. Tuesday. The ordinance was passed a little after 4:30 p.m.
