It’s telling that the two members of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors who voted against the motion Tuesday by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors to draft a law changing the county code by allowing existing cannabis businesses to allow on-site consumption are both health care professionals.

And both 2nd District Supervisor Kim De Serpa and 5th District Supervisor Monica Martinez are new to the board, both elected in November.

The so-called cannabis lounges, which would allow customers to smoke or ingest pot products within an existing business, are the latest attempt by the legal marijuana industry to expand its economic reach — and to make the local businesses more attractive to tourists and renters. Currently, purchasers of cannabis products are supposed to use them only at home.

The idea to make code changes allowing onsite consumption at the 11 dispensaries within the unincorporated county; they would not pertain to businesses in the cities of Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Watsonville or Capitola.

The change to the county code to allow onsite consumption was advanced last year by Supervisors Felipe Hernandez and Manu Koenig, who said it would allow the businesses to overcome some of the economic issues licensees face. The two were joined in Tuesday’s majority vote by Supervisor Justin Cummings.

Proponents have said their industry has struggled to thrive since it was legalized a decade ago. Restricting where the products can be consumed limits the appeal to visitors including tourists. They also say that allowing customers to smoke inside their businesses will cut down on the health hazards from second-hand smoke.

Dispensary operators have told the supervisors that revenues are down, reflected by sagging tax revenue for the county. A county staff report from last year showed total retail cannabis business tax revenue hit $2.2 million in fiscal year 2022-23 — an 8.8% increase compared to the previous year. But that was followed by a more than 4% decline in fiscal year 2023-24, with only $2.1 million coming in. Tax revenue peaked during the COVID pandemic and hit an all-time high of $3.1 million in fiscal year 2020-21.

As it was Tuesday, the board initially was divided on advancing the lounge idea. Previously, former Supervisor Bruce McPherson voiced opposition to the ordinance changes, citing public safety. Unlike alcohol, he said, there’s no way to measure the level of a cannabis user’s intoxication and that he feared the prospect of lounge visitors ending up behind the wheel of a car. His opposition was backed by a local California Highway Patrol captain.

It’s an obvious truth that allowing onsite consumption will put more impaired drivers on the road. The reality has been for several years that more people are using cannabis daily than alcohol, putting more drivers using the drug behind the wheel — and people on the road at risk.

A 2023 study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy reported that many drivers don’t realize cannabis impairs driving. Only 70% of drivers said it is very dangerous to drive an hour after using marijuana compared with 94% for alcohol, according to a 2022 survey of 2,500 drivers by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Moreover, the legalization of marijuana likely accounts for an additional 1,400 traffic fatalities in the U.S. each year, according to the studies.

Law enforcement agencies have struggled to identify cannabis-impaired drivers who shouldn’t be on the road, because there isn’t a reliable drug test for impairment like there is with alcohol. Some are rolling out saliva tests that check for recent marijuana use, coupled with training to look for signs that a driver is high. These methods, however, can only detect recent use, not the level of impairment.

If someone drives to a cannabis business, and smokes pot inside an onsite lounge, then they’ll have to leave the same way they got there, usually in a vehicle. Which puts them on the road.

Is that what Santa Cruz County residents want? Consumption lounges are a public health hazard and a dangerous idea that should not be further advanced.