Board approves ordinance enabling temporary cannabis consumption permits for events after heated debate

The Board of Supervisors voted on March 12 to pass on first reading an ordinance authorizing the Office of Cannabis to issue permits for on-site cannabis sales and consumption at certain events and to allow temporary waivers of local no‑smoking rules for permitted events.

The ordinance was the most-discussed regular-agenda item of the day. Supporters said permitting would create a regulated, safer pathway for consumption at a small, pilot set of events that already see widespread unregulated use; opponents and public‑health advocates warned that allowing cannabis consumption by smoking would require, under state law, permitting tobacco smoking as well, reversing long-standing local protections against secondhand smoke.

Why it mattered: The ordinance would create a local permitting pathway — including an enforcement framework for licensed sellers — for consumption at events the Office of Cannabis identified as part of a pilot (about seven events). An…