Is weed legal in Maryland?

Recreational status

Recreational cannabis is legal in Maryland. (Criminal Law Article § 5-601: Possessing or Administering a Controlled Dangerous Substance)

Maryland legalized by carving amounts out of its criminal law rather than by writing a permission beside it, so what keeps your cannabis lawful is the amount you hold. The figures that decide it sit in the limits section below.

Medical status

A full medical cannabis program runs in Maryland, serving patients the program registers. (Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article § 36-301: Certifying Providers)

The Administration is encouraged to approve certifying providers for a patient in hospice or receiving palliative care, or with a chronic or debilitating disease or condition producing cachexia, anorexia, or wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, or severe or persistent muscle spasms, as well as for glaucoma or post-traumatic stress disorder, under Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article 36-301(c). Subsection (e) lets the Administration approve any other severe condition resistant to other treatment, so the list is not exhaustive. Section 36-101(jj) defines 'usable cannabis' as the dried leaves and flowers of the plant, not a low-THC-only preparation.

Your entry point is a certifying provider, and the Maryland Cannabis Administration decides who may act as one. A registered patient is then measured against different figures further down this page, and those attach to the certification rather than to the visit.

Hemp-derived products

Maryland permits the sale of hemp-derived products and limits which ones. (Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article § 36-1102: Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabinoid Products)

The 0.5-milligram-per-serving and 2.5-milligram-per-package thresholds apply to a product intended for human consumption or inhalation containing any tetrahydrocannabinol, including delta-8 and delta-10, regardless of how derived, under 36-1102(a)(3) and (b)(1); above those thresholds, sale requires a license under 36-401. Subsection (d) separately lets any person sell a hemp-derived tincture with a cannabidiol-to-tetrahydrocannabinol ratio of at least 15 to 1 and no more than 2.5 milligrams of THC per serving or 100 milligrams per package, without a cannabis license, once the Administration has tested a sample. Sale of a covered product to anyone under 21 is separately barred by (b)(2).

The threshold is measured by the dose in the package, so two products made from the same plant can land on opposite sides of it. Anything above the line is sold only under a cannabis license, which means the shelf a product sits on tells you which rules it was made under.

Home cultivation

Maryland allows an adult to grow up to 2 plants at home. (Criminal Law Article § 5-601.2: Cultivation of Cannabis Plants)

A qualifying patient at least 21 years old may instead cultivate up to four plants, or up to four per residence where two or more such patients live, under Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article 36-302(b); a patient under 21 is not exempted from this section's own bar on cultivation by anyone under 21. Cultivation under this section must be out of public view, in a space secured from anyone under 21, and only on property the cultivator lawfully possesses or occupies with the possessor's consent.

Two plants is also a figure the possession section counts, so the plants themselves are part of what you may lawfully hold rather than an allowance beside it. Where you grow them is governed as closely as how many, and a rented address brings the person who owns it into the question.

Possession and purchase limits

The possession limit, as Maryland states it: An amount of usable cannabis that does not exceed 1.5 ounces, of concentrated cannabis that does not exceed 12 grams, of cannabis products containing tetrahydrocannabinol that does not exceed 750 milligrams, or two or fewer cannabis plants. (Criminal Law Article § 5-101: Definitions)

Possessing more than this 'personal use amount,' up to the 'civil use amount' -- usable cannabis over 1.5 but not more than 2.5 ounces, concentrated cannabis over 12 but not more than 20 grams, or cannabis products over 750 but not more than 1,250 milligrams of THC, under 5-101(e-2) -- is a civil offense punishable by a fine rather than a crime, under 5-601(c)(2)(ii)2. A qualifying patient may not possess more than the amount authorized in their written certification, under Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article 36-302(g).

On buying, Maryland states: A dispensary may not sell an individual more than 1.5 ounces of usable cannabis products, 12 grams of concentrated cannabis products, or cannabis products such as edibles, capsules, and tinctures containing more than 750 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol, in a single day. (COMAR 14.17.12.04: Dispensary Operations)

A registered qualifying patient or caregiver may instead obtain, in portions, up to a 30-day supply set by the patient's written certification, rather than this one-day limit; a written certification not used within 120 days of issuance becomes void, under COMAR 14.17.12.04.A.

Maryland counts three things at once, flower by weight, concentrate by weight, and total THC in everything else, so a basket can reach one ceiling while the other two stay open. The milligram count is the one that catches people, because it adds up across everything in the bag rather than product by product.

Minimum age

You must be 21 or over to buy without a medical card. (Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article § 36-101: Definitions)

You must be 18 or over to hold a card and buy for yourself. (Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article § 36-101: Definitions)

A qualifying patient under 18 must have a caregiver and may obtain medical cannabis only through that caregiver or through authorised school personnel.

Between 18 and 21 there is one lawful way in here, and it runs through a certifying provider. The gap closes at 21, when the same person can buy on an ID alone.

Where you can buy

You can buy lawfully from a licensed recreational dispensary, a licensed medical dispensary, a retailer of hemp-derived or CBD products and a licensed delivery service. (Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article § 36-401: Cannabis Licenses)

36-401(c) confirms the same license type: a standard license authorizes a physical dispensary storefront and a micro license instead authorizes a delivery service with no storefront, both serving medical and adult-use customers alike. Section 36-302(a) separately confirms a qualifying patient or caregiver may obtain medical cannabis from a licensed dispensary. Section 36-1102(d) lets any person sell a qualifying hemp-derived tincture without a cannabis license once the Administration has tested a sample, which is the hemp-cbd-retailer channel recorded here.

A licensed operation here does not need a storefront, so a delivery service with no address to visit can be entirely legitimate. What you can check either way is the license the Maryland Cannabis Administration issued to it.

The Maryland store list names every licensed location this site holds a record for.

Federal law applies here too, and it is not the same. Read what federal law says about weed.