ABSTRACT Recent acceleration in global cannabis legalization offers a new context for examining the multiscale links between agritourism, sustainability, and international policy frameworks. In this study, Responsible Tourism is used to conceptualize cannabis agritourism in Northern California's Emerald Triangle as a strategy that may advance targets of two United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 8—Decent Work and Economic Growth and Goal 12—Responsible Production and Consumption. The Emerald Triangle is historically world‐renowned for cannabis cultivation and uniquely positioned to offer commercial cannabis farm tours. Using qualitative research centered on legacy producer perspectives, this study situates agritourism within debates of localization, regenerative tourism, and postprohibition economic restructuring. Drawing on participant observation across five farms and seven dispensaries, supplemented by interviews with 20 stakeholders including tour guides, small‐scale farmers, and dispensary staff. Responsible Tourism analysis reveals four locally embedded pathways through which SDG targets may potentially be operationalized, preserving cultural heritage, creating conditions for regenerative farming practices, nurturing participatory governance among legacy producer networks, and encouraging sustainable consumption patterns. These findings demonstrate how locally practiced sustainability, as articulated by small‐scale cultivators, aligns with calls to understand global goals from the bottom up, while highlighting the need for broader stakeholder inclusion in future research.
Dupej et al. (2026) studied this question.