Event Industry Trends: How Do New California Cannabis Laws Affect Hospitality?

As of January 2018 marijuana has been legal in California - and we do notice changes in the hospitality world.
While it is definitely a niche market, we get many questions from event attendees about California cannabis. We compiled the Does and Don'ts for you.

As of January 1, 2018, "Green" has earned a whole new meaning in California.
It is no longer just associated with environmentally friendly practices in the tourism industry. "Green" is trending because the recreational use of marijuana has been legalized in California and the new law has become effective at the beginning of the year..
Celebrities have joined the ranks of growers in droves. The Coachella Valley city of Desert Hot Springs is booming. Tuff Gong, Snoop Dogg and Mike Tyson are among the local farmers.

Does cannabis play a role in tourism? Absolutely. Visitors started asking as far back as October 2017 how and where they could buy legal weed.
Some individually owned hotels offer marijuana friendly services, vending machines, smoking rooms and edibles instead of chocolates on the pillow. AirBnB lists "420 friendly" as a filter.

Here are all the facts you need to know:
Even though the purchase and consumption of marijuana is now legal in the state of California, there are still many restrictions in place.

1) Where to buy: The medical dispensaries, some of them have been around for more than 20 years, need to acquire a special recreational marijuana sales license and not many places have obtained these yet. The number of sales points will increase. The state reports that 1600 vendors have applied! So far your best bet are a few dispensaries in San Francisco, West Hollywood and Santa Ana. The list keeps growing and changing as applications get processed.
BRING CASH! Marijuana is still illegal on the federal level. Dispensaries cannot accept credit cards.
Weed cannot be sold between 10pm/22h and 6am/6h.

2) Age limit: the conditions for buying legal marijuana are the same as buying alcohol: you have to be 21 years of age and show a valid photo ID (driver license or passport).

3) Where can you smoke: the locations for use of recreational marijuana are highly restricted. You would never suspect this as the scent of marijuana permeates the air in the region.  The clouds of smoke leave you contact high. However, smoking marijuana on streets, in public parks, on beaches, etc. is ILLEGAL! Consumption is restricted to private properties. This poses a problem for tourists as hotels are not private. A number of cities will allow smoke lounges.
And a word of warning: smoking inside of a personal car is just as illegal as drinking inside of a car and driving high is a serious offense, just like driving drunk.

4) Other options: it may be easier to discreetly consume many of the products you do not need to smoke: cookies, honey, chocolate....

5) How much does it cost? Prices vary widely by potency and type of product and they will fluctuate in the coming months. According to the Cannifornian a small 20mg chocolate chip cookie will set you back $3, 12 king size pre-rolls in Anaheim cost $50, a gram of concentrated cannabis ranges from $30 to $45.

The state and each community adds a hefty tax rate! All legally sold marijuana will include a special 15% state tax, plus the customary state tax of ~ 8%, plus local community taxes that will add another 5 to 10 per cent.

6) How much can you buy: one ounce = 28 grams per adult per purchase.

7) Cannabis Events: a number of public events involve cannabis, ranging from Cannabis Yoga in Beverly Hills to High Art Friday Nights in the Bay Area and large conventions such as the annual Cannabis Expo.

Cannabis event organizers do hire event production companies. We very much enjoyed creating an art-inspired decor for Budtender Appreciation Day SoCal 2017 to match the space and the unconventional event style, as well as interactive, fun activities for this mostly young group of guests.

Gifting: companies like Beboe specialize in CBD gifts such as the Downtime and Inspired line of product


8) Cannabis Tours: three companies already offer cannabis tours:
Green Guide Tours in San Francisco, Greenline Trips in Los Angeles and MedTours in Los Angeles which offers tours of their dispensaries.
Cannabis tour buses, like traditional party buses, are considered private space and since the driver is separated from passengers consumption inside the bus is legal.


9) More Info: rules, regulations and enforcement are in flux. It is still illegal on a federal level. These two websites are great sources of information to stay up to date: the State Bureau for Cannabis Control and The Cannifornian

10) Last but not least: DO NOT TRAVEL WITH CANNABIS.
Marijuana is only legal in 6 states at this time. Do not even think of traveling to the Grand Canyon with reefers/ganja/weed/mj in your luggage. Arizona's sheriffs will welcome you to jail with open arms.

We hope the information answers some of your questions.
Thank you for reading.