Buying cannabis in Maryland as an out-of-state visitor

What ID actually works

The state accepts a driver's license, a state ID card, a passport or passport card, a military ID, or a tribal ID. All of these work whether they were issued in Maryland or somewhere else. A college or university ID does not count, even with a photo and birthdate on it.

Bring the ID every time. Expect to show it at the door, and often again at the register. There's no exception for visitors.

How much you can buy

Visitors buy under the same personal use limits as residents: up to 1.5 ounces of flower, 12 grams of concentrate, or products containing up to 750 mg of THC total.

Go over 1.5 ounces and up to 2.5 ounces, and it's a civil fine of up to $250. Cross 2.5 ounces and it becomes a criminal matter. The possession limit is about how much you are carrying at once, not what any single receipt says.

Where you can actually use it

Using it in Maryland comes with the same public-place rules everyone else follows: Smoking cannabis is illegal in any public place, including parks, streets, sidewalks, bars, restaurants, and public transit. The fine is up to $50 the first time and up to $150 after that. Vaping cannabis is illegal in indoor places open to the public, including bars, restaurants, transit, and workplaces.

Most hotels do not allow guests to smoke cannabis in their rooms, so check with the front desk before assuming otherwise. Staying in a vacation rental or an Airbnb? Ask the owner directly. State law allows cannabis use on private property, and the owner can prohibit it. Ask the owner.

Private homes you have permission to be in are fine, as long as whoever controls the property hasn't banned it.

Why you can't take it home

It remains illegal to carry cannabis into or out of Maryland, full stop. That holds even if you're headed to a state with its own legal cannabis market, like Delaware. Federal law treats cannabis as illegal everywhere in the country, and crossing a state line with it is a federal matter regardless of what either state allows at home.

There's no amount small enough to make it fine. Don't carry it out of Maryland. Use it only on private property where you have permission, and don't drive after using it.

Flying with it

Don't. TSA officers aren't screening for drugs specifically, but if they find cannabis during a routine check, they refer it to law enforcement. That covers checked luggage as well as carry-ons. Cannabis is illegal under federal law, and airport security runs on federal rules, whichever state you fly from or to.

Medical cards from other states

Maryland's medical program only recognizes its own registered patients. An out-of-state medical card does not make you a Maryland patient. You pay adult-use sales tax and buy under the adult-use limits. Registered Maryland patients pay no cannabis sales tax and may buy higher-potency edibles (up to 40 mg THC per serving and 400 mg per package) sold only to them. As a visitor, you buy as an adult-use customer, same as everyone else without a Maryland card.

Every shop in our directory comes from the state's own list of licensed dispensaries.