Long Beach may legalize cannabis use at music festivals, other permitted events

Smoking cannabis at public events — music festivals, conventions and fairs — has long been commonplace, but illegal. The city of Long Beach may soon change that.

The Long Beach City Council is set to consider reviving a 2019 ordinance that, if passed into law, would allow certain retailers to sell and people to consume cannabis at event spaces, from small pop-ups to large-scale trade shows.

At their Aug. 6 meeting, council members will first vote on whether to approve a 60-day study on what it will take to create the permitting process. According to city documents, the study would look at appropriate locations for permitted events based on the necessary guidelines, staffing and visibility requirements enshrined in state law. In a city report, officials listed the Queen Mary as an early example of a potential host.

State law has since 2018 allowed temporary permits for onsite use and sales of cannabis at certain events, but it still requires local approval.

The license to sell cannabis at events is part of a concept the City Council has kicked around since 2019. The item was ultimately shelved amid a rush of policies in response to the coronavirus pandemic but not before City Manager Tom Modica released a Feb. 6, 2020 memo that detailed the conditions needed to have such an ordinance in place.

These conditions included proper notice and consideration needed for city staff who may be exposed to secondhand smoke, state visibility laws that don’t allow consumption of cannabis in view of the general public, the need to tightly regulate alcohol sales, providing readily available ride-sharing options, and properly levying cannabis business license taxes to avoid loopholes.

The ordinance was intended to regulate the number of permits issued per event, in a recommended number of times per calendar year, and only to applicants that were fully licensed and up to date on their tax obligations.

But these are challenges that can be solved, and have been solved in other jurisdictions, said Mike Murchison, a local lobbyist.

The 2020 memo found that cities like San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Rosa and Sacramento have issued similar permits since 2018. These cities have hosted large-scale events like the annual Cannabis Cup, with sizable success: little to no calls for service and millions in generated sales, in an event sequestered from the public and under supervision by private security.

It’s a part of the state’s argument since its 2016 legalization of cannabis that it is arguably better to moderate a drug that has been ubiquitous with these spaces for decades.

Murchison plans to attend the Tuesday meeting as a representative for Medium Rare, an Atlanta-based events firm that produces joint-venture live events with celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal, Rob Gronkowski and, more recently, Snoop Dogg.

The latter celebrity, he said, has been in talks with the events firm to host a 20,000- to 30,000-attendee birthday party in Downtown Long Beach in fall 2025, along the lawn that fronts the Queen Mary ocean liner.

While unable to say how much the event would generate in city revenue, Murchison said it wouldn’t be a paltry sum. “It’s not small potatoes,” he said.

In early discussions with Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson and other officials, Murchison said there is “a lot of interest”  in the event as a major source of revenue and pride for the city.

If approved, Medium Rare would be a test case for Long Beach regulators trying to create boundaries for the expanding cannabis industry and to benchmark how much revenue it could generate. This is especially important for Long Beach as the city enters its 2025 budget cycle with an estimated $20.3 million deficit.

Councilmember Al Austin, who motioned for an ordinance in 2019, said the item would “create an economic boon for our local businesses.” It would also be one of the final laws Austin looks to set in motion — he is scheduled to term out of office at the end of the year.

Austin’s staff said the intention is for any approved program to be rolled out gracefully, to iron out early wrinkles.

“But it would also draw in visitors from around the region,” Austin added. “We have a unique opportunity to uplift our community while ensuring these types of events are operated safely and responsibly.”