Maryland cannabis laws, in plain terms

What's legal

If you're 21 or older, you can:

• •Hold up to 1.5 oz of flower, 12 g of concentrate, or products containing up to 750 mg of THC. That's the personal use amount.
• •Buy that amount at a licensed dispensary with a government photo ID. Licensed dispensaries are the only legal place to buy.
• •Grow up to two plants per household at home, out of public view.
• •Use cannabis in a private home or on private property, unless your landlord or management company bans it.

What's not legal, and what it costs

The rules people most often get wrong:

• •Holding more than the personal use amount. Over 1.5 oz up to 2.5 oz is a civil offense with a fine up to $250. Over 2.5 oz can bring criminal charges.
• •Smoking in public. Parks, streets, sidewalks, bars, restaurants, buses, trains and taxis all count. The fine is up to $50 the first time and up to $150 after that.
• •Using it in a car. Smoking cannabis in the passenger area of a vehicle on a highway is illegal for the driver and for passengers. Driving while impaired is a DUI.
• •Crossing a state line with it, in or out, even to a state where cannabis is also legal. Federal law still applies.
• •Selling hemp-derived THC products such as delta-8 outside the licensed system. More on that below.

Driving

Officers can arrest for a cannabis DUI if they see impairment using standard roadside tests. Maryland doesn't set a THC number the way it sets 0.08 for alcohol. Officers judge impairment with roadside tests. If you've used cannabis, don't drive.

Federal property

State law does not reach federal land. Possession is illegal in national parks such as Assateague Island National Seashore, on military bases such as Fort Meade and Aberdeen Proving Ground, and in federal buildings.

Delta-8 and other hemp THC

Hemp products with more than 0.5 mg of THC per serving or 2.5 mg per package may only be sold under the cannabis law, which means licensed dispensaries. In September 2025 the Appellate Court of Maryland put it bluntly: "Hemp-derived psychoactive products, so-called delta-8 and delta-10 THC, are now and have always been illegal in Maryland."

Growing at home

Adults 21 and over may grow two plants per household, out of public view, however many adults live there. Registered patients may grow two more, four in total, and never more than four in one home. Landlords can ban growing on their property.

Work and housing

Maryland's cannabis law doesn't address workplace drug testing, so employers can keep their own policies, and federal rules such as those for commercial drivers still apply. Landlords and management companies can ban cannabis use on their property.