Cannabis in Long Beach

Legal age

21+ (18+ with medical recommendation)

Daily limit

28.5 g flower, 8 g concentrate

State excise

15%

City cannabis tax

7% adult-use retail (cut from 8%)

Sales tax

10.25%

Delivery

Yes, from licensed retailers

Public use

Illegal, including the beach and Shoreline Village

What stacks up on a Long Beach receipt?

Long Beach sales tax is higher than in Los Angeles because the city added its own district measures over the years, and cannabis buyers pay it like everyone else. Three taxes apply, and the local sales tax is the one visitors underestimate. Long Beach voters created the city's cannabis tax with Measure MA in 2016; the City Council later lowered the adult-use retail rate from 8% to 7% to help licensed shops against unlicensed competition.

Long Beach is its own city

Long Beach sits inside Los Angeles County but has its own licensing office, its own tax and its own list of permitted stores. A Long Beach license does not appear in the City of Los Angeles register and vice versa, which is why Verdex keeps a separate page for each. Signal Hill, a small separate city surrounded by Long Beach, also licenses its own retailers, so a store that looks like it is in Long Beach may fall under a different permit and tax. If you shop across the line, check the California state page for rules that apply in both.

How to check a store before you pay

We have not finished full profiles for Long Beach sellers yet, so use the listing below plus the state license search. Real stores post a C10 license number at the door, scan your ID before you enter the sales floor, and hand you a receipt with taxes itemized. Expect a security check at the door, an ID scan, and a purchase limit enforced by the point-of-sale system. Anyone selling from a car, an Instagram page or a pop-up event without a posted license is operating outside the law, whatever the product packaging says. Our guide to a first dispensary visit explains cash, debit and what to ask staff, and the Red List covers sellers we have flagged for fake licenses.