The long wait for Amsterdam-style “coffeeshops” in San Francisco may soon be over. Our Board of Supervisors recently voted to allow authorized cannabis sellers to also sell food and nonalcoholic beverages. Cannabis cafés will provide munchies and cottonmouth quenchers with on-site consumption, sure to be a boon to the city’s recovering tourism industry. Pending Mayor Laurie’s approval, prospective café owners may be able to apply as early as next month.
Per the original press release, Governor Gavin Newsom approved Assembly Bill 1775 in October 2024, allowing cannabis cafés statewide. So how is San Francisco—the cradle of hippiedom—just now getting around to this? One might rightfully assume the city would pounce on these obvious makings of a tourist trap. But what seems like a foregone conclusion is facing resistance, even from within the industry.
This is good news, right?
Naturally, the proposition has strong support among San Francisco’s many cannabis enthusiasts. It’s an appealing alternative to dispensaries choked by excise tax and shady management, where weed legitimately ceases to be fun. In 2026, as in 2016 and 2006, it’s just better to “know a guy.” If you still have hang-ups about breaking the law in Epstein’s America, cannabis cafés offer valid space for regulated sales. It’s the same weed, held to the same California regulatory standard, only you pay by the joint.
San Francisco may soon have its own breed of weed-centered “coffeeshops,” though it’s hard to imagine sidewalk seating here where smoking is permitted. Creative commons.
The rules of operation function similarly to a bar or hookah lounge. California requires operators to obtain a Department of Health-issued consumption permit as well as a permit from the Office of Cannabis. Cannabis cafés may only sell weed for on-site consumption—no to-go orders. They are also subject to the same food safety requirements as any other food service establishment, and must electronically verify IDs. Unlike a bar or hookah lounge however, no alcohol or tobacco sales are allowed.
Importantly, cannabis cafés fall into a different category than dispensaries under this ordinance, now considered a distinct enterprise. As per Assemblymember Matt Haney’s press release: “AB 1775 will allow cannabis retailers to diversify their business and move away from the struggling and limited dispensary model by selling non-cannabis-infused foods.” The legislation, created by Board President Rafael Mandelman, went to vote and won 7–4, with Supervisors Chyanne Chen, Connie Chan, Myrna Melgar, and Alan Wong opposing it.
This looks more like how I picture a San Francisco “coffeeshop.” But I better not see any Meta logos stuck to the wall. Creative commons.
“San Francisco just gave our legal cannabis industry a real tool to compete and grow,” President Mandelman said in a statement. “There’s no reason our operators shouldn’t have the same tools to compete and help bring people back into our neighborhoods.” Mandelman identifies cannabis cafés as potentially instrumental in the city’s economic rebound. Even so, not everyone agrees.
Competitive cannabis
From an entrepreneurial standpoint, cafés carve a new niche in the cannabis industry instead of amending current market models. The ordinance also stipulates that for one year, only cannabis vendors already operating in San Francisco may pursue licensure. If you are new to the industry, you can apply the following year. Dispensary owners looking to expand their companies into the café business cannot do so under their existing permits. The state is always first to get their cut.
While news of Amsterdam-style cafés coming to San Francisco is exciting for most, others don’t agree. The American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association reportedly wrote to the mayor urging him to veto the ordinance. Secondhand smoke is harmful, and could potentially be carcinogenic. Lung Association Advocacy Director Kesa Bruce worries about employees at risk of chronic exposure to secondhand smoke. “No worker should have to choose between earning a paycheck and protecting their health,” she told KQED.
Unsurprisingly, the rest of the call is coming from inside the growhouse. Dispensary owners are feeling left out of this latest evolution in legal cannabis and do not want the competition. These business owners have had the legal market cornered since California legalized recreational use of cannabis in 2016 (enacted 2018). They’ve enjoyed eight years of sole access to a tax-paying customer base. For the first time, dispensary operators may face competition from inside the legal cannabis industry.
Green Cross owner Kevin Reed told KQED he urged the Board of Supervisors to slow their roll. Reed is bothered by the potential limitations this new permit category may impose on pot clubs. Retailers like him have witnessed delivery services and dispensaries wink in and out existence. Many don’t last. Others give them a run for their money (of the 79 cannabis permits issued in San Francisco, 66 are active). But every time, whatever their business model, the finish line ends at you.
That is, until now.
Cannabis cafés will present an alternative to the rectilinear, Point A–Point B model of buying weed, then jetting home or to Dolores Park. To clientele, they are desirable third spaces that emphasize the social side of cannabis use. For legal weed moguls who have shouldered their struggles thus far, these cafés represent a true threat. While there is real money to be made in legal weed, keeping a dispensary alive is prohibitively expensive. Like owning a bar, you must accept you will operate at a loss before you turn a profit. However, unlike bars, dispensaries won’t let you imbibe on site. They can’t.
“This is the first time in my career that I have felt compelled to ask the City to slow the expansion of cannabis businesses,” Reed wrote to the Board of Supervisors.
No doubt most of our coffeeshops will adopt this aggressive, dead-end stoner aesthetic, and that’s the only reason I can think of for denying a cannabis café its permit. Creative commons.
But it’s precisely this caveat that should prevent dispensary owners from immediately saturating the market with cheap excuses for coffeeshops. Imagine visiting a cannabis “café” only to find a dispensary with two folding tables and some cheap chairs added on. This is the future Mr. David Goldman wants. President of the Brownie Mary Club, San Francisco chapter, David Goldman can get behind that Dispensary+ vision. In his letter to the Board, Goldman cites 23 dispensaries and 21 delivery services that went under here in SF. If market oversaturation was the actual concern, why wait until after forty businesses failed to voice it?
The ordinance is on its way to Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office for review. I can’t imagine Lurie saying No to more tourist dollars for San Francisco. If the mayor approves, the law won’t go into effect for 31 days. Afterwards, the Office of Cannabis will start accepting permit applications. If you’ve wanted to open an Amsterdam-style coffeeshop in San Francisco, it’s almost your time to shine.
