Dispensaries in California

California Dispensaries by City

Every California city and town with at least one licensed cannabis retailer is listed here, largest first. City names follow the DCC license list (with abbreviations written out), so some neighborhoods appear under their own postal names (North Hollywood, Van Nuys and Woodland Hills are all part of the City of Los Angeles) and are listed under those names. More than half of California's cities and counties ban cannabis stores, so shops often cluster in the towns that allow them. Click a city to see its stores.

California Dispensaries by Region

California has more licensed stores than any other state in our directory, but they are spread unevenly. Southern California holds more than half of them, and a few counties allow almost none.

Los Angeles County (393 stores)

Los Angeles County has more licensed stores than any other county in the state. The City of Los Angeles accounts for most of them, and the DCC lists many under neighborhood names such as North Hollywood, Van Nuys, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Studio City, Sylmar and San Pedro. Long Beach has 36 stores of its own, and West Hollywood, one of the first cities to permit consumption lounges, is a short drive from Hollywood.

San Francisco Bay Area and Sonoma (267 stores)

San Francisco has 72 stores, more than any city except Los Angeles, and San Jose has 35. Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward, Antioch and Vallejo fill out the East Bay and Solano County. Sonoma County is a market of its own, with 29 stores in Santa Rosa and more in Petaluma, Sebastopol, Healdsburg and the Russian River towns. Marin County has just one store in our directory.

San Diego, the Inland Empire and the Desert (266 stores)

Riverside County has the second-highest store count of any county, with clusters in Lake Elsinore, Moreno Valley, Corona, Hemet and the Coachella Valley desert cities of Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Palm Desert. San Diego County stores sit mainly in San Diego, La Mesa, Vista and Chula Vista. San Bernardino County has stores in San Bernardino, Adelanto and Needles on the Colorado River, and Imperial County has a few near the Mexican border. Remember that taking cannabis into Arizona or Mexico is illegal, even though Arizona allows adult use.

Sacramento and the Central Valley (184 stores)

Sacramento has 51 stores, the third-most of any city, and Davis and Woodland add more in Yolo County. Down the valley, Fresno, Modesto, Stockton, Tracy, Turlock and Merced have the largest counts. The Central Valley has more medical-only stores than any other region, while Kern County, home to Bakersfield, has only a handful of licensed stores in our directory.

Central Coast (103 stores)

The coast from Ventura to Santa Cruz has a steady chain of stores. Oxnard and Port Hueneme lead Ventura County, Lompoc, Santa Barbara and Goleta lead Santa Barbara County, and Grover Beach and Morro Bay serve San Luis Obispo County. Farther north, Salinas, Seaside, Marina and Carmel serve Monterey County, and Santa Cruz, Soquel and Capitola serve Santa Cruz County.

North Coast and the Emerald Triangle (78 stores)

Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties, known together as the Emerald Triangle, are California's best-known cannabis growing region. Ukiah has 14 stores and Eureka has 12, with more in Arcata, Fort Bragg, Willits and small towns along Highway 101. Lake County stores sit around Clear Lake, and Crescent City serves Del Norte County near the Oregon line.

Orange County (45 stores)

Orange County is the clearest example of local control. Its stores are concentrated in just four cities: Santa Ana (22), Costa Mesa (18), Stanton and Laguna Woods. Shoppers in the rest of the county drive to those cities or order delivery.

Sierra Nevada, Tahoe and the Eastern Sierra (32 stores)

Mountain counties have few stores. South Lake Tahoe, Placerville and Shingle Springs serve El Dorado County, Mammoth Lakes and June Lake serve Mono County, and Bishop and Lone Pine serve the Owens Valley. Do not carry cannabis across the Nevada line at Tahoe, and remember it is banned in Yosemite and other national parks.

Far Northern California (23 stores)

Redding, Chico, Red Bluff, Mount Shasta, Weed and Dunsmuir have the only stores along the upper I-5 corridor, with Susanville serving Lassen County. Oregon has legal stores just across the border, but cannabis bought there cannot legally be brought into California.

How California Licenses Dispensaries: The DCC

California became the first state to allow medical cannabis in 1996, and voters legalized adult use with Proposition 64, effective November 9, 2016. Licensed adult-use sales began in 2018. Today the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) licenses every cannabis business in the state, from farms and labs to stores, under the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act.

Retail licenses come in two forms. A storefront retailer runs a shop open to the public. A non-storefront retailer sells only by delivery, and its premises must be closed to the public. Each retail license carries an A-designation (adult use), an M-designation (medicinal) or both. Under state rules, a store with only an A-designation admits customers 21 and older, while a medicinal store may also admit patients 18 and older with a physician's recommendation. Licensed microbusinesses can also make retail sales.

The state license is only half the story. A business needs local approval as well, and cities and counties can ban cannabis businesses outright. As of February 2026, the DCC reports that 56% of California cities and counties (302 of 540) do not allow any retail cannabis business. That is why some large cities have dozens of stores while their neighbors have none. Anyone can check a store's license with the DCC's online license search.

Buying Cannabis in California: Age, ID, Hours, Delivery and Limits

• Age and ID: You must be 21 or older with valid government photo ID. Out-of-state driver's licenses and passports are accepted, so tourists can buy. Patients 18 to 20 can shop at medicinal stores with a physician's recommendation.
• Hours: Under 4 CCR 15403, licensed retailers may sell and deliver only between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Pacific Time. Stores set their own hours within that window, and cities can be stricter.
• Delivery: Delivery is legal. The DCC lists three ways to buy: visit a store, order online for pickup or order online for delivery. Under 4 CCR 15416, a licensed delivery employee may deliver to any jurisdiction in California, provided the delivery follows all state delivery rules.
• Payment: Cash is accepted everywhere, and many stores take debit cards. Credit cards are uncommon because cannabis remains illegal under federal law.
• Hemp products: Until new DCC rules take effect, licensed cannabis stores may not sell hemp products.

The daily limits come from 4 CCR 15409. For possession limits, home grow rules, penalties and the rest of the law, see our full guide to California marijuana laws.

Medical Dispensaries in California and the MMIC Card

California does not run separate medical dispensaries. Instead, stores with an M-designation serve medical patients, and most licensed stores in the state hold both designations. 1,251 of the stores in our directory are licensed for medicinal sales, shown with a Medical badge.

Patients 18 and older need a recommendation from a California physician. With it, they can buy at medicinal stores, buy more each day if their physician recommends it and possess up to 8 ounces of dried cannabis under Health and Safety Code 11362.77. Visitors 21 and older do not need a California recommendation; they can shop under the adult-use rules.

The state also offers a voluntary Medical Marijuana Identification Card (MMIC), issued through county programs under the California Department of Public Health. The card's biggest benefit is at the register: according to the CDTFA, qualified patients and primary caregivers who show a valid MMIC and government-issued ID pay no sales and use tax on medicinal cannabis. The exemption does not cover the 15% cannabis excise tax. A physician's recommendation alone does not qualify for the tax exemption.

California Cannabis Taxes and Prices

Every retail cannabis sale carries California's cannabis excise tax, now 15% of gross receipts. According to the CDTFA, the rate rose to 19% on July 1, 2025, then returned to 15% on October 1, 2025, under AB 564, which keeps it at 15% through June 30, 2028; after that the rate is reviewed every two years. State and local sales tax applies on top, and many cities add their own cannabis business taxes, so the final price of the same product can vary from one city to the next.

The excise tax is collected by the store at checkout. Compare the out-the-door price rather than the shelf tag, and look for daily deals, first-visit discounts and loyalty programs, which many stores offer. Medical patients with an MMIC card save the sales tax, but not the excise tax.

Where You Can and Cannot Use Cannabis in California

• Private property: Use is legal at a private residence or on private property if the owner allows it. Landlords may ban smoking in leases, and most hotels do not allow cannabis in rooms.
• No public use: Smoking or ingesting cannabis in a public place, including streets, sidewalks, parks and beaches, is an infraction with a fine of up to $100. Use is also banned anywhere tobacco smoking is banned and within 1,000 feet of a school, day care center or youth center while children are present.
• Consumption lounges: State law lets cities permit on-site consumption at licensed businesses, and those sites are exempt from the public-use ban. West Hollywood created lounge permits in 2017, and San Francisco also has licensed lounges. Since January 1, 2025, AB 1775 has let cities allow lounges to serve non-cannabis food and drinks and host live events.
• Driving: It is illegal to smoke or ingest cannabis while driving or riding in a vehicle, or to have an open package in the passenger area. Keep it sealed or in the trunk. Driving while impaired is illegal.
• Federal land and borders: Cannabis is illegal in national parks such as Yosemite and Joshua Tree, in national forests and on military bases. Taking it across any state line is illegal, even into Oregon, Nevada or Arizona. See our federal marijuana law guide for the 2026 rescheduling changes.

Compare these rules with other states in our state cannabis law guides.

California Dispensary FAQ

Does your dispensary need more visibility? Cannabis shoppers use The Weed Street Journal to compare stores, read strain guides and check the law before they buy. Advertise with us · Spotted a wrong address, phone number or hours? Tell us and we will fix it free.

How we build this directory: Store names, addresses, license numbers and adult-use or medicinal designations come from the Department of Cannabis Control's public license list. We refresh the data monthly and remove stores whose licenses are no longer active.