It is time for the City of Sacramento to move forward using lessons from its peer jurisdictions to allow onsite consumption lounges at suitable licensed storefront dispensaries, as well as independent permitted locations unaffiliated with a storefront dispensary. This topic has been deliberated in great detail for several years, and the City possesses all the information it needs to craft an effective onsite consumption ordinance. Lastly, it is absolutely critical for the purposes of openness, fairness, and equality, that all storefront dispensary permitholders be able to apply for onsite consumption lounges if their facilities meet the established standards set forth by OCM staff. It is fair to retain a certain number of lounge permits to CORE operators but it is unfair and discriminatory to punish the remaining storefront dispensary operators who have endured years if not decades of changing policy, subjective enforcement, and the threat of DEA action from back in the medicinal use era only to find themselves excluded without cause from this program. Especially in light of the OCM straw poll results from 2023, wherein a majority of participants voted to keep the program open to all, it is inappropriate to diverge from this community direction and principle of fairness. Let's let all of our permitted storefront dispensaries participate in this new domain, and prioritize the safe access and wellbeing of the greatest number of Sacramento residents by advancing a fairly crafted draft ordinance to City Council at the earliest possible opportunity.
Dear Members of the Law and Legislation Committee,
I am writing to advocate for the approval of cannabis consumption lounges attached to existing dispensaries within the city of Sacramento. Integrating consumption lounges with dispensaries can bring substantial benefits, enhancing the economic, social, and regulatory landscape of our city. Below, I outline the key advantages of this initiative:
1. Enhanced Consumer Experience
Combining consumption lounges with dispensaries provides a comprehensive and convenient consumer experience:
Seamless Transition: Consumers can purchase cannabis products and immediately consume them in a safe, controlled environment without the need to travel to a separate location.
Product Education: Dispensary staff can offer in-depth education about various products and their effects, ensuring that consumers make informed choices and use products responsibly within the lounge.
2. Economic Growth and Revenue Generation
The integration of consumption lounges with existing dispensaries can stimulate the local economy:
Increased Sales and Tax Revenue: Dispensaries with consumption lounges are likely to see increased sales due to the added convenience, leading to higher tax revenues for the city.
Job Creation: These dual-purpose establishments will create more job opportunities, ranging from retail positions to lounge management and service roles.
Support for Local Businesses: The presence of consumption lounges can attract more foot traffic to the area, benefiting surrounding businesses such as cafes, restaurants, and retail shops.
3. Regulatory and Safety Advantages
Attaching consumption lounges to dispensaries can enhance regulatory oversight and promote public safety:
Controlled Environment: Lounges within dispensaries provide a regulated space where consumption can be monitored, reducing the risks associated with public consumption and impaired driving.
Standardized Practices: Dispensaries already operate under strict regulations, ensuring that the attached lounges will adhere to high standards of safety, hygiene, and compliance.
Security Measures: Existing dispensaries typically have robust security measures in place, which can be extended to include the consumption lounges, ensuring a safe environment for patrons.
4. Community and Social Benefits
Integrating lounges with dispensaries can yield significant social benefits:
Reduction in Public Consumption: Providing designated consumption spaces can reduce the prevalence of public cannabis use, leading to a cleaner and more pleasant community environment.
Social Equity Opportunities: By prioritizing licenses for consumption lounges attached to dispensaries the city can promote social equity and ensure that core applicants benefit from the legal cannabis market.
Educational Outreach: Dispensaries with lounges can serve as centers for public education about responsible cannabis use, helping to dispel myths and reduce stigma associated with cannabis consumption.
5. Promotion of a Progressive and Forward-Thinking Image
Sacramento can enhance its reputation as a progressive city by approving this initiative:
Alignment with State Legislation: California has legalized recreational cannabis, and integrating consumption lounges with dispensaries aligns with the state's progressive stance on cannabis regulation.
Model for Other Cities: By successfully implementing this initiative, Sacramento can set a precedent for other cities, demonstrating how to integrate cannabis consumption spaces into the community responsibly.
In conclusion, the approval of cannabis consumption lounges attached to existing dispensaries offers numerous benefits, including enhanced consumer experience, economic growth, regulatory and safety advantages, and significant social benefits. I urge the Law and Legislation Committee to consider these compelling reasons and vote in favor of this initiative.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Christopher Loftin
Business Owner in Sacramento City
Maisha Bahati, Co-Founder and CEO of Crystal Nugs, we are an equity owned dispensary and delivery located at 2300 J St, in the heart of Midtown. I am writing in full support of consumption lounges and events outside of Cal Expo.
Onsite consumption lounges offer a range of benefits for businesses, consumers, and the city through business operations tax. These benefits encompass economic opportunities, social advantages, public health and safety improvements, regulatory compliance, and community support.
Economic Benefits
Business Growth: Lounges provide an additional revenue stream for dispensaries and attract tourism, boosting the local economy.
Job Creation: They create more jobs, ranging from service staff to security personnel.
Social Benefits
Community Building: Lounges foster a sense of community and offer a safe environment for consumption.
Education: They serve as educational hubs where consumers can learn about safe consumption practices, responsible use, and the effects of different strains and products.
Public Health and Safety Benefits
Controlled Environment: Lounges have safety protocols and trained staff, ensuring a secure environment for users.
Reduction of Public Consumption: They help reduce public consumption in parks, streets, and other inappropriate areas.
Regulatory Benefits
Compliance: Lounges operate under strict regulations, ensuring legal and safe consumption.
Quality Control: Products consumed in lounges are often sourced from licensed dispensaries, ensuring product quality and safety.
Community and Social Equity Benefits
Accessibility: Lounges provide access to those who may not have a safe place to consume, such as residents of hotels, apartments, and rental homes.
Support for Social Equity: Many lounges are committed to social equity programs, supporting local communities and minority-owned businesses.
Overall, onsite consumption lounges offer substantial benefits, making them a valuable addition to the cannabis industry and the communities in which they operate.
It is time for the City of Sacramento to move forward using lessons from its peer jurisdictions to allow onsite consumption lounges at suitable licensed storefront dispensaries, as well as independent permitted locations unaffiliated with a storefront dispensary. This topic has been deliberated in great detail for several years, and the City possesses all the information it needs to craft an effective onsite consumption ordinance. Lastly, it is absolutely critical for the purposes of openness, fairness, and equality, that all storefront dispensary permitholders be able to apply for onsite consumption lounges if their facilities meet the established standards set forth by OCM staff. It is fair to retain a certain number of lounge permits to CORE operators but it is unfair and discriminatory to punish the remaining storefront dispensary operators who have endured years if not decades of changing policy, subjective enforcement, and the threat of DEA action from back in the medicinal use era only to find themselves excluded without cause from this program. Especially in light of the OCM straw poll results from 2023, wherein a majority of participants voted to keep the program open to all, it is inappropriate to diverge from this community direction and principle of fairness. Let's let all of our permitted storefront dispensaries participate in this new domain, and prioritize the safe access and wellbeing of the greatest number of Sacramento residents by advancing a fairly crafted draft ordinance to City Council at the earliest possible opportunity.
Dear Members of the Law and Legislation Committee,
I am writing to advocate for the approval of cannabis consumption lounges attached to existing dispensaries within the city of Sacramento. Integrating consumption lounges with dispensaries can bring substantial benefits, enhancing the economic, social, and regulatory landscape of our city. Below, I outline the key advantages of this initiative:
1. Enhanced Consumer Experience
Combining consumption lounges with dispensaries provides a comprehensive and convenient consumer experience:
Seamless Transition: Consumers can purchase cannabis products and immediately consume them in a safe, controlled environment without the need to travel to a separate location.
Product Education: Dispensary staff can offer in-depth education about various products and their effects, ensuring that consumers make informed choices and use products responsibly within the lounge.
2. Economic Growth and Revenue Generation
The integration of consumption lounges with existing dispensaries can stimulate the local economy:
Increased Sales and Tax Revenue: Dispensaries with consumption lounges are likely to see increased sales due to the added convenience, leading to higher tax revenues for the city.
Job Creation: These dual-purpose establishments will create more job opportunities, ranging from retail positions to lounge management and service roles.
Support for Local Businesses: The presence of consumption lounges can attract more foot traffic to the area, benefiting surrounding businesses such as cafes, restaurants, and retail shops.
3. Regulatory and Safety Advantages
Attaching consumption lounges to dispensaries can enhance regulatory oversight and promote public safety:
Controlled Environment: Lounges within dispensaries provide a regulated space where consumption can be monitored, reducing the risks associated with public consumption and impaired driving.
Standardized Practices: Dispensaries already operate under strict regulations, ensuring that the attached lounges will adhere to high standards of safety, hygiene, and compliance.
Security Measures: Existing dispensaries typically have robust security measures in place, which can be extended to include the consumption lounges, ensuring a safe environment for patrons.
4. Community and Social Benefits
Integrating lounges with dispensaries can yield significant social benefits:
Reduction in Public Consumption: Providing designated consumption spaces can reduce the prevalence of public cannabis use, leading to a cleaner and more pleasant community environment.
Social Equity Opportunities: By prioritizing licenses for consumption lounges attached to dispensaries the city can promote social equity and ensure that core applicants benefit from the legal cannabis market.
Educational Outreach: Dispensaries with lounges can serve as centers for public education about responsible cannabis use, helping to dispel myths and reduce stigma associated with cannabis consumption.
5. Promotion of a Progressive and Forward-Thinking Image
Sacramento can enhance its reputation as a progressive city by approving this initiative:
Alignment with State Legislation: California has legalized recreational cannabis, and integrating consumption lounges with dispensaries aligns with the state's progressive stance on cannabis regulation.
Model for Other Cities: By successfully implementing this initiative, Sacramento can set a precedent for other cities, demonstrating how to integrate cannabis consumption spaces into the community responsibly.
In conclusion, the approval of cannabis consumption lounges attached to existing dispensaries offers numerous benefits, including enhanced consumer experience, economic growth, regulatory and safety advantages, and significant social benefits. I urge the Law and Legislation Committee to consider these compelling reasons and vote in favor of this initiative.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Christopher Loftin
Business Owner in Sacramento City
Maisha Bahati, Co-Founder and CEO of Crystal Nugs, we are an equity owned dispensary and delivery located at 2300 J St, in the heart of Midtown. I am writing in full support of consumption lounges and events outside of Cal Expo.
Onsite consumption lounges offer a range of benefits for businesses, consumers, and the city through business operations tax. These benefits encompass economic opportunities, social advantages, public health and safety improvements, regulatory compliance, and community support.
Economic Benefits
Business Growth: Lounges provide an additional revenue stream for dispensaries and attract tourism, boosting the local economy.
Job Creation: They create more jobs, ranging from service staff to security personnel.
Social Benefits
Community Building: Lounges foster a sense of community and offer a safe environment for consumption.
Education: They serve as educational hubs where consumers can learn about safe consumption practices, responsible use, and the effects of different strains and products.
Public Health and Safety Benefits
Controlled Environment: Lounges have safety protocols and trained staff, ensuring a secure environment for users.
Reduction of Public Consumption: They help reduce public consumption in parks, streets, and other inappropriate areas.
Regulatory Benefits
Compliance: Lounges operate under strict regulations, ensuring legal and safe consumption.
Quality Control: Products consumed in lounges are often sourced from licensed dispensaries, ensuring product quality and safety.
Community and Social Equity Benefits
Accessibility: Lounges provide access to those who may not have a safe place to consume, such as residents of hotels, apartments, and rental homes.
Support for Social Equity: Many lounges are committed to social equity programs, supporting local communities and minority-owned businesses.
Overall, onsite consumption lounges offer substantial benefits, making them a valuable addition to the cannabis industry and the communities in which they operate.
Thank you