Stop Discrimination Against Renters. Provide Safe, Legal Spaces to Consume Cannabis.
The Issue
While Santa Rosa has embraced the legal cannabis market, making it easy for adults to access regulated products, it has simultaneously prohibited millions of residents—especially renters—from having any safe, legal space to use them.
City Code Section 9-20.070 strictly bans smoking and vaping (including cannabis) in all multi-family housing, including apartments, duplexes, and even private balconies. Since state law also prohibits public consumption, renters who do not live in single-family homes with private yards are left trapped. This policy forces responsible adult renters to choose between using their legal medicine/recreation or risking fines, lease violations, and—crucially for renters—eviction.
This isn’t just about property values or smoke nuisance; it’s an equity crisis. A single-family homeowner enjoys the privilege to use cannabis safely on their own property. A renter facing the same need or desire in their home risks losing that very home. This policy disproportionately targets working-class residents, seniors, and medical cannabis patients.
What We are Demanding:
We, the undersigned residents of Santa Rosa, demand immediate action from the City Council to end this housing discrimination:
Exempt Medical Cannabis Patients: Immediately amend the multi-unit smoking ban to protect the right of qualified medical cannabis patients to use non-combustible dry-herb vaporizers inside their private rental units. Tenants must not have to choose between their health and their housing security.
Establish Immediate Public Consumption Zones: While the city recently opened permits for consumption lounges, these will take months or years to build. We demand the immediate establishment of designated, regulated outdoor consumption zones in appropriate commercial or industrial areas so that renters have an immediate, lawful alternative to consuming at home.
Why it Matters:
It is hypocritical for Santa Rosa to profit from the tax revenue of a legal cannabis market while penalizing its own residents for participating in it responsibly. It’s time to stop the eviction threats and provide real, equitable access. Legal access must mean safe access for everyone.
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The Issue
While Santa Rosa has embraced the legal cannabis market, making it easy for adults to access regulated products, it has simultaneously prohibited millions of residents—especially renters—from having any safe, legal space to use them.
City Code Section 9-20.070 strictly bans smoking and vaping (including cannabis) in all multi-family housing, including apartments, duplexes, and even private balconies. Since state law also prohibits public consumption, renters who do not live in single-family homes with private yards are left trapped. This policy forces responsible adult renters to choose between using their legal medicine/recreation or risking fines, lease violations, and—crucially for renters—eviction.
This isn’t just about property values or smoke nuisance; it’s an equity crisis. A single-family homeowner enjoys the privilege to use cannabis safely on their own property. A renter facing the same need or desire in their home risks losing that very home. This policy disproportionately targets working-class residents, seniors, and medical cannabis patients.
What We are Demanding:
We, the undersigned residents of Santa Rosa, demand immediate action from the City Council to end this housing discrimination:
Exempt Medical Cannabis Patients: Immediately amend the multi-unit smoking ban to protect the right of qualified medical cannabis patients to use non-combustible dry-herb vaporizers inside their private rental units. Tenants must not have to choose between their health and their housing security.
Establish Immediate Public Consumption Zones: While the city recently opened permits for consumption lounges, these will take months or years to build. We demand the immediate establishment of designated, regulated outdoor consumption zones in appropriate commercial or industrial areas so that renters have an immediate, lawful alternative to consuming at home.
Why it Matters:
It is hypocritical for Santa Rosa to profit from the tax revenue of a legal cannabis market while penalizing its own residents for participating in it responsibly. It’s time to stop the eviction threats and provide real, equitable access. Legal access must mean safe access for everyone.
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Petition created on July 10, 2026