Cannabis
in California

Adults 21 and older may carry up to 28.5 grams, roughly one ounce, of cannabis flower and up to 8 grams of concentrated cannabis under Proposition 64. Going over either amount is a misdemeanor under Health and Safety Code 11357, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine. Adults may give up to an ounce to another adult for free, but any sale without a license is a crime. Medical patients are treated more generously: state guidelines allow a qualified patient or caregiver to keep up to eight ounces of dried cannabis, and NORML notes that medical possession is tied to the patient's actual needs rather than a fixed ceiling. At the counter, Los Angeles County reports a daily purchase cap of one ounce per store for adult-use customers and eight ounces for medical patients who present a state ID card.

The Department of Cannabis Control states that nobody under 21 may obtain cannabis for adult use, and the same age applies to buying, possessing and consuming it. The medical program opens earlier. Patients aged 18 to 20 may buy from licensed retailers with a physician's recommendation, and the higher medical purchase limits require a state identification card as well. Applicants under 18 for a county Medical Marijuana Identification Card must come with a parent or legal guardian or show proof of emancipation, according to San Diego County's program rules. Primary caregivers must generally be at least 18, though a parent may act as caregiver for a minor patient. Supplying cannabis to young people is punished harshly: selling or furnishing it to someone under 18 is a felony that can carry three to seven years in prison.

Adults 21 and older may grow up to six plants for personal use, but under MAUCRSA the six-plant cap applies to each private residence, not to each person, according to Los Angeles County's Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. Cities and counties may regulate indoor home grows but cannot ban them outright. They may prohibit outdoor cultivation entirely, so local rules can be stricter than state law. Plants must be kept in a secure place that children cannot reach. Medical patients and their primary caregivers may exceed six plants when the extra quantity is medically necessary and complies with local law; state medical guidelines refer to six mature or twelve immature plants, and a patient may cultivate up to 100 square feet without a state license. Growing more than six plants without that medical basis is a misdemeanor and can be charged as a felony for some defendants.

The Department of Cannabis Control is California's cannabis regulator. It writes and enforces the rules for licensed businesses under the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, known as MAUCRSA, which sets the basic framework for licensing and oversight. The department was created in July 2021 by merging three bodies that had previously split the work: the Bureau of Cannabis Control and the cannabis units of the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of Public Health. Older guides that still name the Bureau of Cannabis Control are out of date. The California Department of Public Health keeps one cannabis role, overseeing the Medical Marijuana Identification Card Program, which county health departments run locally. Cities and counties also license and regulate commercial activity, and a business needs both local and state approval to operate.

Adult-use purchases are subject to state and local sales and use tax, which commercial guides put at roughly 7.25 to 10.25 percent depending on where the store is. Medical patients who show a valid state Medical Marijuana Identification Card are exempt from that sales tax, according to Los Angeles County, but they still pay the other cannabis taxes that apply to every sale. The exemption is one of the main practical reasons to hold the optional card, because a physician's recommendation alone does not qualify a patient for it. The sources gathered for this page do not establish the current state cannabis excise tax rate or any cultivation tax, so no figure is given here for either, and the total paid at the register will vary by city and county.

California allows licensed retailers and microbusinesses to offer on-site consumption, provided access is limited to people 21 and older, use is not visible from any public area, and the premises sell no alcohol or tobacco, according to Los Angeles County's summary of state rules. Outside those venues, cannabis belongs in a private residence or another place where the owner permits it. Using cannabis in public, anywhere tobacco smoking is banned, in bars, restaurants and workplaces, within 600 feet of a school, daycare or youth center while children are present, or in a vehicle is illegal. Landlords and other property owners may ban use on their premises. Federal land stays off limits regardless of state law.

California separates the physician's recommendation from the state identification card. A licensed physician evaluates the patient and, if cannabis is appropriate, issues a written recommendation; that recommendation alone lets a patient buy from licensed retailers. The Medical Marijuana Identification Card, created under Senate Bill 420 and overseen by the California Department of Public Health, is voluntary. Patients apply for it through their county health department, which checks the paperwork and issues the card. Holding one brings the sales tax exemption and the higher eight-ounce daily purchase limit, and gives clearer protection in encounters with law enforcement. Counties can take up to 35 days to process an application, and a denied applicant may appeal to the Department of Public Health within 30 calendar days.

The Compassionate Use Act, codified at Health and Safety Code 11362.5, does not limit medical cannabis to a closed list. Conditions named in the law and in the identification card rules include cancer, AIDS, chronic pain, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine, cachexia, persistent muscle spasms and severe nausea. The card program also covers any chronic or persistent symptom that substantially limits a major life activity or, left untreated, could seriously harm the patient's safety or health, according to San Diego County's program page. In practice this leaves the decision with the recommending physician, who may recommend cannabis for any debilitating illness where it is medically appropriate. Physicians have recommended it for insomnia, anxiety, depression and PTSD, although none of these is separately named in the statute.

Applications for the state Medical Marijuana Identification Card go through the county where the patient lives, and each county sets its own fee and procedure. San Diego County requires proof of county residency and documentation from the recommending provider on business letterhead showing the provider's name, contact details and California medical license number. Its fee is $44, or $22 for Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Orange County charges $84, or $42 for Medi-Cal patients and caregivers, and takes applications by appointment only. Applicants under 18 need a parent or guardian present or proof of emancipation, and a primary caregiver must attend in person when the application is submitted. Commercial guides identify the state application form as CDPH Form 9044.

A Medical Marijuana Identification Card is typically valid for one year, after which the patient needs a current physician recommendation and a new county application to keep it, according to commercial evaluation services and the Sacramento County Public Law Library, which describes the card as carrying an annual fee. Because the card is optional, letting it lapse does not end a patient's right to use medical cannabis on a valid recommendation. It does end the sales tax exemption and the higher purchase limits that come with the card. The sources gathered here do not set out a separate state renewal procedure, grace period or renewal fee, so the patient's county health department is the place to confirm what it currently requires.

The California sources gathered here do not address telemedicine for cannabis recommendations directly. What the law does require is that the evaluation be done by a licensed physician, and county card programs ask for provider documentation that includes a California medical license number. Commercial evaluation services report that they carry out these evaluations by video or phone without an in-person visit, and that the resulting recommendation can be used to buy from licensed retailers or to apply for a county identification card. Patients using a remote service should make sure the physician holds an active California license, because the county will check that detail on the paperwork.

California has no formal reciprocity for medical cannabis patients from other states. Its identification card program runs through county health departments and requires county residency, and commercial sources state that out-of-state medical cards are not formally recognized, though some dispensaries may accept them at their own discretion. Most visitors do not need reciprocity: anyone 21 or older can buy from licensed retailers within the one-ounce flower and eight-gram concentrate limits that apply to all adults. What visitors give up are the medical benefits, since the higher purchase limits and the sales tax exemption are tied to the California card. Cannabis bought in California cannot legally be taken across state lines or onto federal land.