AB 374 Cannabis: retail preparation, sale, and consumption of noncannabis food and beverage products

This bill is part of the 2023 Cannabis Bills section of our ongoing update on California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update which includes information on cannabis bills from other years.

AB 374 (Haney D) Cannabis: retail preparation, sale, and consumption of noncannabis food and beverage products.

Note: Assembly Bill 374 was passed by the Legislature but vetoed by the Governor on October 8, 2023.

The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. Existing law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities. MAUCRSA establishes the Department of Cannabis Control (department) within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency to administer the act, and requires the department to be under the supervision and control of a director. Existing law provides that a local jurisdiction may allow for the smoking, vaporizing, and ingesting of cannabis or cannabis products on the premises of a retailer or microbusiness licensed under this division if certain conditions are met. Existing administrative law specifies that a licensed retailer or licensed microbusiness authorized for retail sales who operates a consumption area on the licensed premises in accordance with this provision may also sell prepackaged, noncannabis-infused, nonalcoholic food and beverages if the applicable local jurisdiction allows.

This bill would authorize a local jurisdiction, if specified conditions are met, to allow for the preparation or sale of noncannabis food or beverage products, as specified, by a licensed retailer or microbusiness in the area where the consumption of cannabis is allowed, to allow for the sale of prepackaged, noncannabis-infused, nonalcoholic food and beverages by a licensed retailer, and to allow, and to sell tickets for, live musical or other performances on the premises of a licensed retailer or microbusiness in the area where the consumption of cannabis is allowed. The bill would additionally specify that these provisions do not authorize a licensed retailer or microbusiness to prepare or sell industrial hemp or products containing industrial hemp, as provided.

(See related Senate Bill 285.)

Read more about California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update.

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