You may soon be able to stock up on cannabis at a discount price at your local farmers’ market, as the state legislature has approved a proposal to let growers sell there directly. Oh, and Matt Haney’s “cannabis cafe” bill has passed too.
California’s nascent legal marijuana industry had high hopes that legal pot would make many people overnight millionaires, but onerous regulations and too much supply have dashed those dreams. Cannabis growers have been particularly hard hit, leaving many longtime pot growers regretting their decision to go legal. So state Senator Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz) hoped to do those struggling growers a solid favor with a proposed state bill that would allow cannabis growers to sell directly to the consumer at farmers’ markets.
And Marijuana Moment reports that on Tuesday, the state Senate passed that bill overwhelmingly, after it had already cleared the state Assembly in May.
“As a farmer’s daughter, knowing the importance of having that direct relationship with the consumer, this allows cannabis farmers to be able to sell at authorized events—cannabis directly to the sellers—bringing the stock right to the person,” Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-San Joaquin County) said on the Senate floor before the vote.
The farmers’ markets would need specific state and local permits to sell cannabis, just like at Grass Lands at Outside Lands. But just like at Grass Lands, these farmers’ markets would allow you to consume the cannabis right there on site, though this would all be in a separate, isolated area.
Yet the offer would only be open to small growers. Per Marijuana Moment, the growers would have to be cultivating less than “one acre of cannabis, 22,000 square feet under a mixed-light tier 1 cultivation license or 5,000 square feet under a mixed-light tier 2 or indoor cultivation license.”
The bill would go into effect January 1, 2026. But only if it gets signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, and there’s no indication yet where Newsom stands on this issue.
Same goes for our local state Assemblymember Matt Haney’s “cannabis cafe” bill, which would allow dispensaries to sell non-infused food and beverage on the premises. That bill also passed the state Senate Tuesday, and it too is headed to Newsom’s desk. Newsom vetoed a very similar bill last year, but Haney added workplace protections for non-smokers in the new version in hopes of getting Newsom’s signature.
Both bills must first head back to the Assembly for re-approval, as the Senate added amendments that would have to be approved. But the Assembly is expected to approve both revised versions.
Related: There Will Be Legal Marijuana Sales and Smoking at the California State Fair This Year [SFist]
Image: Dried and processed medical marijuana "buds," trimmed and ready for use, legally cured and produced in California. (Getty Images)