Exemptions Threaten Smokefree Indoor Air Protections
The ANR Foundation is pleased to share its newest resource, Rolling Back Smokefree Protections: Expansion of Cannabis Smoking Lounges in California. This policy brief reviews the impact of the statewide laws that permit indoor smoking and vaping of cannabis products under certain conditions. Utilizing data from our U.S. Tobacco Related Laws Database© along with stories from colleagues and city partners, we document trends around what these policies look like, where they’ve been adopted, and whether communities allow the food and events components of the most recent statewide cannabis law. The brief includes several local examples and highlights materials and tools to help advocates be more prepared for rollback attempts.
The resource also provides a reminder that just because states may allow communities to establish cannabis use lounges—and cannabis business interests will strongly advocate for allowing these spaces—communities can say no. Instead, they can reaffirm their commitment to longstanding smokefree air laws and norms that protect the health of their valuable workforce, and not default to prioritizing cannabis business interests by rolling back smokefree protections to allow cannabis smoking and vaping indoors.
The timeliness of this resource and the need for coalitions to prepare for cannabis lounge rollbacks is highlighted by the announcement of a press conference in San Francisco on March 16 to promote the upcoming introduction of an ordinance to permit cannabis cafes that would allow indoor smoking alongside food, beverages, and entertainment. The cannabis industry effort ignores the health risks of rolling back decades of smokefree worksite protections and instead focuses on dubious economic claims of “giving struggling legal cannabis businesses a much-needed lifeline by allowing them to compete, and giving San Francisco’s nightlife economy a boost of vitality.” San Francisco nightlife is thriving and there is no vitality associated with stripping away workplace health and safety protections from our essential hospitality workers, who are as deserving of breathing clean air on the job as any other San Franciscan.
Find all of ANRF’s marijuana and smokefree air resources at no-smoke.org/smokefree-threats/marijuana-smoke/. You can also access many more resources on our ProAccess online learning platform, including a four-part Marijuana and Smokefree Air learning module along with select scientific recordings from our monthly Office Hours. Learn more at: ProAccess.
