California State Fair rolls out on-site sales, consumption of Cannabis
The addition of a sales and consumption area is a first for any state fair in the nation, organizers say.
Cannabis history is happening at the California State Fair and if you don’t know it’s there, you just might miss it.
Behind a monolithic building, past museum-like exhibits that wind the attendee down a timeline of the marijuana plant, sits the first area for on-site sales and consumption of cannabis at a state fair.
Not just the California State Fair, organizers said. Any state fair.
“We’re making history,” said Dustin Moore, co-founder of Embarc. “This has never happened.”
Embarc has partnered with Fair Play Ventures to create the newest version of the fair’s cannabis exhibit. A cannabis competition has taken place at the fair since 2022. This year, after having a chance to speak with growers and vendors, attendees can purchase cannabis products and use them in a consumption area.
Part of that area is already prepared. An area for vendors was ready Wednesday in anticipation of opening day on Friday. Couches sat protected under a covering, which provided some respite from the blistering California sun.
No smoking is allowed in that area. The larger consumption site, where smoking is allowed, remained under construction midweek. Attendees will walk a preordained path to that spot, about 20,000 square feet, where more tables and chairs, along with panelists and music, will greet them.
Both sites, Moore said, are shielded from regular fairgoers. People can visit the fair and never know there’s cannabis present.
Moore conceded this is somewhat contradictory to one of the exhibit’s purposes — removing the stigma of cannabis and normalizing it.
But, much like the legalization of cannabis in California, it’s all about small steps.
James Leitz, with Fair Play Ventures and executive producer of the cannabis competition and exhibit, easily remembers the state of cannabis in California before 2016, when Proposition 64 — the voter initiative that legalized marijuana in the Golden State — passed.
Ten years ago, Leitz wouldn’t have believed sales and consumption at the state fair were possible.
“It is huge,” Leitz said. “It is the first in the country. It’s unbelievable that cannabis is legal."
A visitor to the cannabis exhibit can see how people’s attitudes toward cannabis have changed over time.
The exhibit is in a large building a short walk from the main entrance. Stepping inside, one of the first things a visitor will see are what appear to be cannabis plants.
Moore assured people they aren’t. Instead, they’re hemp.
“Hemp plant’s not cannabis due to regulations,” he said.
Regulations play a large role in cannabis’ history, as well as in the present day.
A timeline of cannabis through the decades is on the walls. Attendees will see a poster for “Reefer Madness,” an anti-marijuana movie from the 1930s now seen by many as a cult classic. Cannabis was used to impugn immigrants and the jazz culture. The War on Drugs wasn’t far behind.
“It’s all about education,” Leitz said. “It started with education.”
The story keeps evolving through the years. The voices of people who saw cannabis as medicine started to grow. The 1990s brought legal, medicinal marijuana to California.
And then, around a corner, the visitor can see the gold and silver medal winners in categories like sun grown, mixed light, cartridge, edibles and beverages.
Nearby, there’s a stand where people can buy terpene-infused slushies, a play off the popular wine slushies found at the fair. Terpenes are what cause the distinct scent many plants have, including cannabis.
The shakes, Moore said, are non-intoxicating.
Cannabis has experienced its troubles since becoming legal on Jan. 1, 2018. Sales in 2021 were $5.35 billion. That was followed by $4.9 billion in sales in 2022, and $4.89 billion in 2023.
The state Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated in May that the state would gain $649 million in cannabis tax revenue in fiscal year 2023-24. While that’s $16 million under a May forecast by Governor Gavin Newsom, the analyst’s office predicts $727 million in tax revenue in fiscal year 2024-25.
“Everybody expected cannabis to be this windfall,” said David Hafner, media relations manager with the state Department of Cannabis Control.
While cannabis does draw in a lot of money for the state, Hafner noted only 40% of California has licensed cannabis retailers. That leaves significant portions of the state in a cannabis desert. The cannabis exhibit plays a role in the socialization and normalization of cannabis.
“Having it at the state fair is the next step of that,” he added.
Hafner’s office will have a compliance team on site during the fair to ensure regulations are obeyed — and there are plenty. The exhibition hall is for those 21 and older. There is no consumption site for smoking on Friday and Saturday. However, smoking is allowed on all other days, except July 19, when a beer fest is set for the fair.
The California State Fair at Cal Expo, 1600 Exposition Blvd., Sacramento, runs from July 12 – 28.
Organizers remain cautiously optimistic about the weather during the fair. The Sacramento region has experienced a heat wave over the past several days, with the mercury topping 100.
Exhibitors hope that temperatures don’t get too high.
