California Laws and Penalties (2024)

• Drugged Driving
• Expungement
• Legalization
• Medical Marijuana

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