In California, adults 21 and older can use cannabis on private property, and in a licensed consumption lounge where the city or county allows one. You cannot use it in public places, in a vehicle or on federal land, and you cannot smoke it anywhere tobacco smoking is banned or near a school or day care while children are there. Property owners, landlords and employers can also ban it on their own premises.
Buying cannabis legally does not make it legal to use it anywhere you like. This guide covers each rule, where it comes from, and how it applies to the places people ask about most. The sources are linked at the end.
The short answer: private property
The state's cannabis regulator, the Department of Cannabis Control, puts it simply: you can use cannabis on private property, but not in public places like restaurants or bars.
Private property usually means your own home and yard, or someone else's home with their permission. The owner decides. California law expressly lets an individual or private business prohibit or restrict cannabis on property they own, so permission is not automatic even on private land.
Using it in public is not allowed, and that includes edibles
The rule against public use comes from California's Health and Safety Code, section 11362.3. It says the law that made cannabis legal does not permit anyone to smoke or ingest cannabis in a public place, except at a licensed consumption site the local government has approved.
Two things in that wording catch people out:
- Edibles count. The ban covers ingesting, not just smoking. Eating a gummy in a public park or on a beach is covered by the same rule as lighting a joint there.
- Vaping counts as smoking. The statute's definition of "smoke" includes using an electronic device that creates an aerosol or vapor.
Anywhere tobacco smoking is banned
The same section bans smoking cannabis anywhere smoking tobacco is prohibited. California already bans tobacco smoking in many places, so cannabis smoking is ruled out in all of them too.
This rule is about smoking only. Some cities and counties go further with their own rules, including on smoking in apartment buildings, so check the rules where you are.
Near schools, day care centers and youth centers
California bans smoking cannabis within 1,000 feet of a school, day care center or youth center while children are present. There is an exception for smoking inside or on the grounds of a private residence, but only if the smoke can't be detected by others at the school or center while children are there.
Possessing, smoking or ingesting cannabis on the grounds of a school, day care center or youth center while children are present is banned outright.
In a car
You cannot smoke or ingest cannabis while driving. Passengers cannot use it either, under a separate part of the same section, with a narrow exception for a vehicle operated under a local consumption authorization with no one under 21 aboard.
You also cannot have an open container or open package of cannabis in a vehicle while you are driving or riding in it. The Department of Cannabis Control says cannabis in a vehicle has to be in a sealed package or container, or in the trunk.
Driving while impaired by cannabis is a separate and more serious matter. The law that legalized adult use expressly left California's impaired-driving laws in place.
For how much you can carry in the first place, see how much weed you can buy in California.
Renting, hotels and vacation rentals
Because property owners can ban cannabis on their own property, a landlord can prohibit it in a rental. The Department of Cannabis Control's advice is to read your rental agreement for any restrictions.
The same principle applies to hotels and vacation rentals. The owner sets the rules, and the Department's advice for vacation rentals is to check with the property owner before your stay.
At work
California law does not require any employer to allow cannabis at work. Employers can keep a drug- and alcohol-free workplace and can have policies banning cannabis use by employees.
What changed on January 1, 2024 is off-duty use. Under a 2022 law, Assembly Bill 2188, most California employers can no longer discriminate against workers or job applicants for using cannabis off the job and away from the workplace. The law does not give anyone a right to use cannabis, possess it or be impaired by it at work, and it does not cover every job, including positions that require a federal background check or security clearance.
Licensed consumption lounges
The one place outside private property where you can use cannabis is a licensed consumption area. Under Business and Professions Code section 26200, a city or county can allow licensed retailers and microbusinesses to let customers use cannabis on site, as long as access is limited to people 21 and older, the use isn't visible from a public place, and no alcohol or tobacco is sold or consumed there.
Since January 1, 2025, a law known as AB 1775 has also let those lounges, with local approval, prepare and sell non-cannabis food and non-alcoholic drinks, and sell tickets to live performances in the consumption area.
Lounges exist only where the local government has approved them, so they are not available everywhere. Ask your dispensary whether there is one nearby.
Federal land and crossing state lines
Cannabis is still illegal under federal law. The Department of Cannabis Control's guidance is that you cannot use or possess it on federal land, such as national parks, even inside California. You also cannot take it across state lines, even to another state where it is legal.
What happens if you break these rules
Most of the public-use rules in section 11362.3, such as using cannabis in public or smoking where tobacco is banned, are infractions, the lowest level of offense, which carry a fine. Driving while impaired is not one of them. Local rules can add their own penalties.
For the rest of California's cannabis laws, including possession limits and home growing, see California's cannabis laws. If you are in Illinois instead, the rules there differ: see how much weed you can buy in Chicago.
Where you can and can't use cannabis in California
- Allowed: your own private property, someone else's with their permission, and a licensed consumption lounge where your city or county allows one.
- Not allowed: public places, including streets, sidewalks, parks, beaches and restaurants, and that covers edibles as well as smoking and vaping.
- Not allowed: smoking anywhere tobacco smoking is banned.
- Not allowed: in a vehicle, whether you are driving or a passenger, and no open containers while you drive or ride.
- Not allowed: smoking within 1,000 feet of a school, day care or youth center while children are present, except inside a private home where it can't be detected.
- Up to the owner: rentals, hotels, vacation rentals and workplaces.
- Not allowed: federal land, including national parks.
Sources and further reading
- What's legal — California Department of Cannabis Control, on using cannabis on private property, rentals, vacation rentals, vehicles, federal land and state lines
- Health and Safety Code section 11362.3 — California Legislature, on public use, places where tobacco smoking is banned, schools, vehicles and the definition of smoking
- Health and Safety Code section 11362.45 — California Legislature, on impaired driving, employers, government buildings and private property owners
- Business and Professions Code section 26200 — California Legislature, on local approval of on-site consumption, including the 2025 changes from AB 1775
- Use of cannabis: frequently asked questions (PDF) — California Civil Rights Department, on off-duty use protections from January 1, 2024
This article is general information for adults 21 and older and is not legal advice. Cities and counties can set stricter rules than the state; check local rules where you are. Information is current as of October 5, 2026.
