| Offense | Penalty | Incarceration | Max. Fine |
|---|---|---|---|
Possession |
|||
Personal Use |
|||
| Up to 28.5 g of marijuana flower | No penalty | None | $ 0 |
| 28.5 grams or less, under 18 years | Infraction | None* | $ 0 |
| 28.5 grams or more, under 18 years | Infraction | None* | $ 0 |
| 28.5 grams or less, over 18 years, and occurred on school grounds | Misdemeanor | 10 days | $ 500 |
| More than 28.5 grams | Misdemeanor | 6 months | $ 500 |
With Intent to Distribute |
|||
| Any amount, under 18 years | Infraction | None* | $ 0 |
| Any amount | Misdemeanor | 6 months | $ 500 |
| * Drug counseling and community service | |||
Sale or Delivery |
|||
| Any amount, under 18 years | Infraction | None* | $ 0 |
| Gift of 28.5 grams or less | No penalty | N/A | $ 100 |
| Any amount | Misdemeanor | 6 months | $ 500 |
| * Drug counseling and community service | |||
Cultivation |
|||
| Up to 6 plants | No penalty | None | $ 0 |
| Any amount, under 18 years | Infraction | None* | $ 0 |
| 6 plants or more | Misdemeanor | 6 months | $ 500 |
| * Drug counseling and community service | |||
Hash & Concentrates |
|||
| Up to 8 g | No penalty | None | $ 0 |
| 8 g or more, under 18 years | Infraction | None* | $ 0 |
| 8 g or more | Misdemeanor | 6 months | $ 500 |
| Unauthorized manufacture | Misdemeanor | 6 months | $ 500 |
| Chemical manufacture | N/A | 3 - 7 years | $ 50,000 |
| * Drug counseling and community service | |||
Paraphernalia |
|||
| Sale, delivery, possession with intent, and manufacture with intent | Misdemeanor | 15 days - 6 months | $ 500 |
| Involving a minor at least 3 years junior | Misdemeanor | 1 year | $ 1,000 |
Penalty Details
Possession for Personal Use
Proposition 64, The Adult Use Marijuana Act, permits adults over 21 years of age who are not participating in the state’s medical cannabis program to legally grow (up to six plants, including all of the harvest from those plants) and to possess personal use quantities of cannabis (up to one ounce of flower and/or up to eight grams of concentrates) while also licensing commercial cannabis production and retail sales. The law took effect on November 9, 2016.
Possession of more than 28.5 grams of marijuana flower is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine up to $500. If the amount possessed is 28.5 grams or less but the person is 18 years of age or older and the possession occurred on school grounds, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to 10 days imprisonment and/or a fine up to $500. If the offender is younger than 18 years of age, then the offense is an infraction punishable by up to 8 hours of drug counseling and/or up to 40 hours of community service.
- California Health & Safety Code § 11362.1(a)(1)
- California Health & Safety Code § 11357(c)
- California Health & Safety Code § 11357(a)(1)
- California Health & Safety Code § 11357(b)(1)(2)
Possession with Intent to Distribute
Possession with intent to distribute more than one ounce of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by 6 months imprisonment and a fine of $500. If the offender is younger than 18 years of age, then the offense is an infraction punishable by up to 8 hours of drug counseling and/or up to 40 hours of community service.
- California Health & Safety Code § 11359(b)
- California Health & Safety § 11359(a)
- California Health & Safety § 11357(b)(1)
Adult Transfer Without Compensation
To possess, transport, purchase, obtain, use, manufacture, or give away cannabis accessories to persons 21 years of age or older without any compensation whatsoever up to 28.5 grams or less carries no penalty, fine or incarceration in the state of California.
- California Health & Safety Code § 11362.1(a)(1)(2)(5)
Sale/Delivery
Monetary transactions involving the sale or delivery of any amount of marijuana by someone who does not possess a state licensed permit is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine. However, gifting marijuana in quantities up to one ounce for no remuneration is legal. If the offender is younger than 18 years of age, then the offense is an infraction punishable by up to 8 hours of drug counseling and/or up to 40 hours of community service.
- California Health & Safety Code § 11360(a)(1)(2)
- California Health & Safety Code § 11360(b)(1)
Cultivation
Proposition 64, The Adult Use Marijuana Act, permits adults over 21 years of age who are not participating in the state’s medical cannabis program to legally grow (up to six plants, including all of the harvest from those plants). The law took effect on November 9, 2016.
Cultivation of 6 plants or more is a misdemeanor punishable by 6 months incarceration and a fine of $500.
Cultivation of any amount by a person under 18 years of age is an infraction punishable by up to 8 hours of drug counseling and/or up to 40 hours of community service.
- California Health & Safety Code § 11362.1(a)(3)
- California Health & Safety Code § 11357(b)(1)
- California Health & Safety Code § 11358(a)(b)(c)
Hash & Concentrates
In California, hashish or concentrates are referred to as “concentrated cannabis”. Proposition 64, The Adult Use Marijuana Act, permits adults over 21 years of age who are not participating in the state’s medical cannabis program to possess personal use quantities of up to eight grams of concentrates. The law took effect on November 9, 2016.
Possession of more than 8 grams of concentrates is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine up to $500.
If the offender is younger than 18 years of age, then the offense is an infraction punishable by up to 8 hours of drug counseling and/or up to 40 hours of community service.
Generally the unauthorized manufacturing of concentrates is a misdemeanor punishable by 6 months incarceration and a fine of $500. If the manufacturing process involved extraction chemicals, such as butane, then it is considered manufacture by means of chemical synthesis of a controlled substance. Manufacture by means of chemical synthesis of a controlled substance carries a fine no greater than $50,000 and a term of imprisonment of 3-7 years.
- California Health & Safety Code § 11362.1(a)(2)
- California Health & Safety Code § 11357(b)(1)(2)
- California Health & Safety Code § 11358(d)
- California Health & Safety Code § 11358(c)
- California Health & Safety Code § 11379.6(a)
Paraphernalia
There is no penalty for the simple possession of marijuana paraphernalia. Sale, delivery, possession with intent to sell or deliver, and manufacture with intent to sell or deliver marijuana paraphernalia is a misdemeanor punishable by 15 days to 6 months imprisonment and/or a maximum fine of $500. Delivery of marijuana paraphernalia by an individual aged 18 years or older to a minor at least 3 years his junior is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year imprisonment and/or a fine up to $1,000.
- California Health & Safety Code § § 11364.7(a)(1)
- California Health & Safety Code § 11374
- California Health & Safety Code § 11364.7(c)
More Information
Drugged Driving
Every state criminalizes driving under the influence of a controlled substance. Some jurisdictions also impose additional per se laws. In their strictest form, these laws forbid drivers from operating a motor vehicle if they have a detectable level of an illicit drug or drug metabolite (i.e., compounds produced from chemical changes of a drug in the body, but not necessarily psychoactive themselves) present in their bodily fluids above a specific, state-imposed threshold. Read further information about cannabinoids and their impact on psychomotor performance. Additional information regarding cannabinoids and proposed per se limits is available online.
EXPUNGEMENT
This state has enacted legislation explicitly providing the opportunity for those with marijuana convictions for activities that have since been decriminalized/legalized to have past marijuana convictions expunged, vacated, otherwise set aside, or sealed from public view.
Legalization
Generally, legalization means a policy that supports a legally controlled market for marijuana, where consumers can buy marijuana for personal use from a safe legal source.
Medical Marijuana
This state has medical marijuana laws enacted. Modern research suggests that cannabis is a valuable aid in the treatment of a wide range of clinical applications. These include pain relief, nausea, spasticity, glaucoma, and movement disorders. Marijuana is also a powerful appetite stimulant and emerging research suggests that marijuana’s medicinal properties may protect the body against some types of malignant tumors, and are neuroprotective.