San Francisco supervisors have advanced a proposal that would allow existing cannabis lounges to serve food and soft drinks and host live entertainment. NBC Bay Area reports.

The Board of Supervisors approved the ordinance 7-4 on its first reading Tuesday, with a final vote expected next week, according to the report. If passed, the measure would allow the city’s cannabis dispensaries to expand their offerings under a state law authored by Assemblyman Matt Haney (D).

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who introduced the ordinance in the spring, said the policy could help the city’s licensed cannabis operators develop more sustainable business models while also attracting tourism.

“Amsterdam does a lot of tourist business and has a lot of benefits from cannabis cafes,” Mandelman said, according to the report.

“San Francisco is not Amsterdam; there may be elements of that that we will see here, and again, that may be part of our recovery.”

William Dolan, CEO of Hyrba dispensary in the Sunset District, said the proposal would advance a nearly decade-long plan to open a community cannabis space in the Mission District, where customers could legally consume cannabis while getting food, snacks or coffee.

The ordinance has drawn opposition from public health advocates and some city officials over concerns about indoor smoking. Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who voted against the measure, said the proposal “sets back our public health goals,” while the American Smokers’ Rights Foundation warned that workers and recreationists could face increased exposure to indoor air pollution.

Mandelman said Tuesday’s vote suggests the proposal is likely to pass final reading.

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According to press release from the office of Governor Gavin Newsom.

The operations were conducted by the California Unified Cannabis Task Force (UCETF), which was created by Newsom in 2022 to coordinate state, local and federal enforcement against the illegal cannabis market. During the three-month period, officials seized 63,204 pounds of illegal cannabis worth more than $104 million, destroyed 89,257 cannabis plants, confiscated 17 firearms, seized $220,923 in cash and made 24 arrests. Enforcement actions were involved in 10 counties.

Since the task force’s inception, California officials claimed that operations coordinated by the UCETF have seized and destroyed more than 841,000 pounds of illegal cannabis, including 1.3 million plants. The task force has served more than 750 search warrants in 29 counties, leading to 100 arrests and the seizure of more than $2.8 million in cash and more than 250 firearms.

The largest recent enforcement action took place from May 14 to June 3 in Tulare, Kern and Los Angeles counties. Led by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the operation included 26 search warrants in illegal cannabis areas, where investigators found environmental violations and banned, unregistered or foreign labeled pesticides in or suspected of 13 cultivation areas.

The counties most affected by enforcement during the quarter were Kern, Alameda, Butte, Los Angeles and Stanislaus counties. Officials also cited major operations in Riverside, Los Angeles, Butte and Ventura counties involving illegal cultivation, environmental violations, firearms and suspected organized crime.

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In one paper For federal lawmakers, the American Bankers Association (ABA) called for passage of the SAFE Banking Act — a proposal that seeks to normalize banking access for state-approved cannabis companies. In the letter, Naomi Camper, chief policy officer for the ABA, said the law “would improve public safety, help the government combat illegal financing, and provide a critical measure of security in response to the evolving legal landscape by giving cannabis businesses that operate in full compliance with state laws access to essential financial services.”

“Although almost every US state has legalized marijuana in some form, the uncertain legal landscape governing the revenue of these state-licensed businesses means that these businesses often operate on a cash basis, outside of the regulated banking system.” — Camper, on paper

Camper added that normalizing banking for cannabis businesses would “remove the barriers to banking these funds” and allow funds to flow more freely to non-cannabis businesses that work with the cannabis industry, including accountants, skilled traders, landlords and law firms.

Further, Camper notes that recent federal changes regarding cannabis—specifically rescheduling medical cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act—”emphasize the need for Congress to act.”

“Passage of this legislation would reduce the risk of illicit financing and increase financial transparency for cannabis and hemp-derived revenues,” Camper wrote in the letter. “Banks and other highly regulated financial institutions must adhere to strict anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws and regulations, conduct due diligence on their customers, screen transactions for suspicious activity and keep records.

Previous versions of the SAFE Banking Act have passed the House seven times, most recently in 2023. The current version of the legislation has been referred to the Committee on Financial Services and in addition to the Judiciary and Veterans Affairs Committees.

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