SACRAMENTO, Calif — As California enters the new year, cannabis enthusiasts are anticipating significant changes to the state’s laws that could boost the local economy.

The legalization of cannabis consumption lounges, which includes Amsterdam-style cafes where dispensaries can serve food, drinks and host live music, is now in effect. Sacramento is already taking steps to implement these new rules.

Maisha Bahati, CEO of Crystal Nugs, a dispensary located on J Street in Sacramento’s Midtown, sees the new law as a potential lifeline for businesses.

“I think this is going to be like this light at the end of the tunnel for a lot of businesses,” Bahati said.

The change allows dispensaries to establish lounges where patrons can consume cannabis in a social setting. Cities such as San Francisco and Oakland have already had on-site consumption lounges, but with the new law, they can add food and drinks to their cannabis consumption areas.

Bahati believes this model will work in Sacramento as well.

“It is working in other counties; it is working in other cities. I do not see why it would not work here,” she said.

Bahati is among the first business owners in Sacramento to prepare for this new phase of cannabis consumption. Her dispensary, Crystal Nugs, plans to transform an empty room near the storefront into a cannabis lounge.

“As a business, we are crossing all our T’s and dot our I’s,” she explained.

While the new law is officially in effect, Sacramento’s cannabis lounge pilot program, approved by the city council in November, has yet to finalize specific rules and the permit system. As a result, Bahati estimates it may take several months, possibly close to a year, before lounges can open in the city.

“What we are focusing on now is just getting assessments and getting costs involved,” she said.

Sacramento dispensary owners are also waiting on the results of a city-issued survey to determine who is ready to add a cannabis lounge.

Sacramento dispensaries are willing to wait as getting approval from the city has not been easy. During the November city council vote, then-Mayor Darrell Steinberg cast the deciding vote to approve the program, despite concerns about the health impacts of smoking cannabis.

Opponents of the program, such as Councilmember Karina Talamantes, raised concerns about the health risks associated with cannabis smoking, noting that it produces many of the same toxins as tobacco.

In response, Bahati emphasized that ensuring proper ventilation will be a key priority for her business.

“That is going to be priority number one. We are going to have to have something that is going to suck up all the smoke in here,” she said.

Although the city has not yet provided specific details on the cannabis lounge program, Bahati remains hopeful.

“We will see what happens, but we are ready. We are ready for the journey,” she said.

WATCH ALSO: 

California State Fair makes history with first day of marijuana consumption lounge