Arizona cannabis rules for visitors

Adults 21 and older may possess, buy and carry one ounce or less of marijuana, of which no more than five grams may be concentrate (A.R.S. 36-2852), and a licensed marijuana establishment may sell no more than that to one consumer in a single transaction (A.R.S. 36-2858). Holding more than one ounce but not more than 2.5 ounces, with up to 12.5 grams of concentrate, is a petty offense; above 2.5 ounces the felony marijuana statute applies (A.R.S. 36-2853, 13-3405). Adults may grow six plants at their primary residence, with a cap of 12 where two or more adults live.

Any adult 21 or older can buy at a licensed marijuana establishment; the law sets no residency requirement, and the interim ID list it borrows from the liquor statute includes a valid unexpired passport (A.R.S. 36-2854, 4-241). Use is legal on private property where the owner allows it. Smoking in any public place or open space, including sidewalks, parks, bars, airports and hotel common areas, is a petty offense, no one may consume in an operating vehicle, and Arizona has no licensed lounges. Grand Canyon and other federal land, the Navajo Nation and the Havasupai Reservation prohibit marijuana, and federal law still applies at airport screening and across state lines.

The regulator is the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS). Check any shop's license on the state license lookup before you buy.

Adults 21 and older may possess, buy and transport one ounce or less of marijuana, and no more than five grams of that ounce may be in the form of concentrate (A.R.S. 36-2852). The same numbers cap each sale: a licensed marijuana establishment may not sell more than one ounce to a consumer in a single transaction, with no more than five grams of it as concentrate (A.R.S. 36-2858). Pipes, papers, vaporizers and other paraphernalia are legal to buy, carry and use.

Edibles have their own ceiling. The statute directs ADHS to limit edible products to 10 milligrams of THC per serving and 100 milligrams per package, and a product with more than one serving must be scored into standard servings (A.R.S. 36-2854). Everything leaves the store in child-resistant packaging, and labels carry a QR code linking to the harvest date, strain, extraction method, manufacture date and a lab report on impurities such as heavy metals (A.R.S. 36-2854.01).

Sharing is legal; selling is not. An adult may give another adult 21 or older up to one ounce, with no more than five grams of concentrate, or up to six plants, as long as nothing is paid and the transfer is not advertised or promoted (A.R.S. 36-2852). Selling marijuana without a license falls under the state's felony marijuana statute, which makes selling or transferring an amount under two pounds a class 3 felony (A.R.S. 13-3405).

Going over the limit happens in two steps. Holding more than one ounce but not more than 2.5 ounces, with no more than 12.5 grams of concentrate, is a petty offense (A.R.S. 36-2853), which carries a fine of up to $300 (A.R.S. 13-802). Above 2.5 ounces Prop 207's protection ends, and possessing less than two pounds is a class 6 felony with a fine of at least $750 or three times the value of the marijuana, whichever is greater (A.R.S. 13-3405).

You must be 21. Prop 207 does not allow anyone under 21 to buy, possess, transport or consume marijuana, and it does not allow anyone to sell, transfer or provide marijuana to a person under 21 (A.R.S. 36-2851). The law defines a consumer as an individual who is at least 21 and buys marijuana, and it contains no residency requirement, so a visitor buys on the same terms as an Arizona resident (A.R.S. 36-2850).

Stores check government-issued photo ID. The law told ADHS to set the acceptable forms of ID and, until it adopted final rules, required establishments to follow the proof-of-age list in the liquor statute (A.R.S. 36-2854). That list accepts an unexpired driver license or state ID card from any U.S. state, the District of Columbia, a U.S. territory or Canada, an unexpired armed forces ID, a valid unexpired passport or resident alien card, a biometric consular ID or a U.S. border crossing card (A.R.S. 4-241).

For international visitors, a passport is the safe choice. The statutory list names a valid unexpired passport without limiting it to U.S. passports, but it accepts driver licenses only from U.S. jurisdictions and Canada, so a European or Mexican driver license is not on it (A.R.S. 4-241). ADHS's own final rule on ID could not be read for this page, so travelers whose license comes from another country should bring a passport to the store.

Penalties for people under 21 start as civil fines. A person under 21 caught with an ounce or less pays a civil penalty of up to $100 for a first violation and may be ordered to attend up to four hours of drug education; a second violation is a petty offense and a third is a class 1 misdemeanor (A.R.S. 36-2853). Using a fake ID, or someone else's, to try to buy is a petty offense the first time and a class 1 misdemeanor after that.

On private property, with the owner's permission. Prop 207 makes possessing and consuming an ounce or less lawful for adults, but it does not allow anyone to smoke marijuana in a public place or open space, and it lets any private owner, landlord, employer or business prohibit or regulate marijuana on property it occupies, owns or controls (A.R.S. 36-2851, 36-2852). In practice that means a private home or rental where the owner says yes.

Public places are defined broadly. The law borrows the Smoke-Free Arizona Act's definition: any enclosed area the public is invited into, including airports, bars, restaurants, retail stores, shopping malls, entertainment venues, sports facilities, hotel and motel common areas and the common areas of apartment buildings and condominiums (A.R.S. 36-2850, 36-601.01). Open space means a public park, public sidewalk, public walkway or public pedestrian thoroughfare.

Smoking in either is a petty offense (A.R.S. 36-2853), with a fine of up to $300 (A.R.S. 13-802). The law defines smoking in terms of lighted marijuana, so vapes and edibles are not named in that ban, but the state, cities, towns and counties may prohibit or regulate any marijuana conduct on property they own, control or operate, such as city parks, civic buildings and state land (A.R.S. 36-2850, 36-2851).

Some places are off limits whatever form you use. Employers, schools, day care centers, health care facilities and corrections facilities may ban marijuana on their property (A.R.S. 36-2851). Federal land, including Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, follows federal rules (36 CFR 2.35), and the Navajo Nation and the Havasupai Tribe prohibit drugs on their lands. No one may consume in an operating vehicle, boat or aircraft.

Only if the hotel allows it. No Arizona statute bans marijuana in a guest room, but Prop 207 lets any private business that occupies, owns or controls a property prohibit or regulate marijuana there (A.R.S. 36-2851). The hotel's house rules and the terms of your booking decide the question, so check them before using cannabis in a room or on a private balcony.

Common areas are a different matter. The definition of public place that Prop 207 uses includes hotel and motel common areas, along with the bars, restaurants, shops and entertainment venues inside a resort (A.R.S. 36-2850, 36-601.01). Smoking marijuana in a lobby, hallway, hotel restaurant or hotel bar is therefore a petty offense with a fine of up to $300 (A.R.S. 36-2853, 13-802), whatever the property's own policy says.

Tobacco rules do not help. The Smoke-Free Arizona Act lets a hotel designate no more than half of its rented guest rooms as smoking rooms (A.R.S. 36-601.01), but that exception is written for tobacco, and a smoking room does not oblige the hotel to accept marijuana. Edibles avoid the smoke question, though a hotel can still ban possession or use of any marijuana product on its premises under its own rules (A.R.S. 36-2851).

Vacation rentals and lodging on tribal land need extra care. A short-term rental is private property, so the owner's rules and the listing terms govern (A.R.S. 36-2851). Lodging on reservations follows tribal law: the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department says possession of illegal drugs is strictly prohibited on the Nation, and the Havasupai Tribe says its reservation, including Supai Village, is dry, with no drugs or alcohol of any kind.

No. Prop 207 created no license for on-site consumption: a marijuana establishment license covers a single retail location, a single off-site cultivation location and a single off-site manufacturing location, and nothing else (A.R.S. 36-2850). ADHS's AZ Care Check database lists only four kinds of marijuana facility, dispensaries, dual licensees, establishments and laboratories, and none of the 180 active facilities it showed on October 16, 2026 is a lounge.

The public place rule stands in the way too. Any enclosed area the public is invited into, including bars, restaurants, retail stores and entertainment venues, is a public place, and smoking marijuana in one is a petty offense (A.R.S. 36-2850, 36-2853). That includes the sales floor of a dispensary, which is a retail store open to the public, so plan to keep purchases sealed until you reach private property where use is allowed.

Be wary of events or apps that promise otherwise. Selling marijuana without a license is a felony (A.R.S. 13-3405), and the advertising statute makes it unlawful for anyone other than a licensed establishment or dual licensee to facilitate delivery, solicit or accept orders, run an ordering platform or operate a listing service for marijuana sales in a way the law does not authorize, with a civil penalty of $20,000 per violation (A.R.S. 36-2859).

Private gatherings are the legal alternative. Adults may share up to an ounce with other adults 21 or older as long as nothing is paid (A.R.S. 36-2852), and a host can allow marijuana in a private home. A private residence is not a public place unless it is used as a child care, adult day care or health care facility (A.R.S. 36-601.01). As of October 2026, Arizona's marijuana chapter contains no consumption license of any kind.

You may carry up to an ounce in a car, but no one may consume it while the vehicle is operating. Prop 207 does not allow anyone to consume marijuana while driving, operating or riding in the passenger seat or compartment of an operating motor vehicle, boat, vessel, aircraft or other vehicle used for transportation (A.R.S. 36-2851). That covers passengers in rental cars, taxis and rideshares, and everyone aboard a boat on an Arizona lake.

Driving impaired is a DUI. Arizona's DUI law makes it unlawful to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of any drug if you are impaired to the slightest degree, and being entitled to use the drug under state law is not a defense (A.R.S. 28-1381). Prop 207 adds that it does not allow driving, flying or boating while impaired to even the slightest degree by marijuana (A.R.S. 36-2851).

There is no THC blood number. The DUI statute separately bans driving with any listed drug or its metabolite in the body, but Prop 207 says a person with marijuana metabolites or components in the body is guilty under that paragraph only if also impaired to the slightest degree (A.R.S. 36-2852, 28-1381). The odor of marijuana or burnt marijuana alone is not reasonable suspicion of a crime, except when an officer is investigating DUI.

The penalties start high. A first DUI is a class 1 misdemeanor carrying at least 10 consecutive days in jail, a fine of at least $250 and two additional assessments of $500 each, and the driver must complete traffic survival school (A.R.S. 28-1381). A judge may suspend all but one day of the jail term if the driver completes a court-ordered drug or alcohol screening, education or treatment program, and may also order community restitution.

Not with adult-use cannabis. Use it up or leave it behind before you reach the airport: airports are on the list of public places in the definition Prop 207 uses, so smoking marijuana inside a terminal is a petty offense (A.R.S. 36-2850, 36-601.01, 36-2853), and the law lets a city prohibit or regulate marijuana on property it owns or operates (A.R.S. 36-2851). Phoenix Sky Harbor is run by the City of Phoenix Aviation Department, whose published airport rules do not address marijuana.

Federal rules govern screening and flights. TSA says its officers do not search for illegal drugs, but if any illegal substance is discovered during screening it refers the matter to a law enforcement officer, and the final decision on any item rests with the TSA officer. The FAA's Compliance Guidance Letter 2022-04 says the cultivation, storage or distribution of marijuana is prohibited on federally obligated airport property regardless of state law.

Crossing a state line takes you outside Prop 207. Arizona's protections are state law, and under federal law a first simple possession offense carries up to a year in prison and a minimum fine of $1,000 (21 U.S.C. 844). Routes north also pass federal land: Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which takes in Lake Powell, Horseshoe Bend and Lees Ferry, is a National Park System unit where possession is prohibited (36 CFR 2.35).

The 2026 federal rescheduling does not change this for visitors. A DEA final rule effective April 28, 2026 placed FDA-approved marijuana drugs and marijuana subject to a state medical marijuana license in Schedule III, and it states that any other form of marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance. TSA's medical marijuana page, updated April 27, 2026, marks medical marijuana Yes (Special Instructions) for carry-on and checked bags; adult-use purchases are not medical marijuana.

Not at the Grand Canyon or any other national park unit. Federal regulations for the National Park System prohibit possessing a controlled substance unless it was obtained directly, or under a valid prescription or order, from a practitioner acting in the course of professional practice (36 CFR 2.35). Grand Canyon's Superintendent's Compendium, dated June 16, 2026, contains no exception for marijuana, and the same regulation applies across Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, including Lake Powell and Horseshoe Bend.

National forests are federal land too. Coconino National Forest, managed by the USDA Forest Service from Flagstaff, includes the Red Rock pass area around Sedona. Arizona's legalization does not change federal law there: the DEA's April 28, 2026 rule keeps marijuana other than FDA-approved drugs and state-licensed medical marijuana in Schedule I, and a first simple possession offense carries up to a year in prison and a minimum $1,000 fine (21 U.S.C. 844).

Tribal land follows tribal law. The Navajo Nation Department of Justice says the Navajo Nation Code makes it a crime to possess, manufacture, transport, sell, use, trade or deliver marijuana on Navajo lands (17 N.N.C. 394(a)(3)). The Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation Department, which runs Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park and Antelope Canyon tours, says possession of illegal drugs is strictly prohibited on the Nation and that Navajo laws will be strictly enforced.

The Havasupai Reservation, reached from the Hualapai Hilltop trailhead, is a dry reservation: the tribe's reservations site says possession, use, distribution, consumption or sale of drugs or alcohol of any kind is strictly prohibited. No tribal dispensary appears in ADHS's AZ Care Check database, which covers state-licensed facilities only, so check a tribe's own rules before bringing any cannabis onto a reservation.

Delivery is legal only from a licensed establishment, under ADHS rules. Prop 207 made delivery unlawful until ADHS adopted delivery rules, allowed those rules on or after January 1, 2023 and required them by January 1, 2025 (A.R.S. 36-2854). Each delivery must start at a marijuana establishment's designated retail location, only after the consumer places an order with that establishment, and it must be carried out by registered marijuana facility agents.

The vehicles are tightly regulated. Deliveries go out in unmarked vehicles with GPS or similar tracking, video surveillance and recording equipment and a locked compartment for the product, the rules must cap the retail value of marijuana in a vehicle on a single trip, and extra or unallocated product is barred (A.R.S. 36-2854). Laws 2024, Chapter 238, signed June 21, 2024, bars ADHS from limiting the delivery distance or the number of delivery vehicles a store uses.

Some addresses are excluded by statute. The rules must prohibit delivery to any property owned or leased by the United States, the State of Arizona, a city, town or county, or the Arizona Board of Regents (A.R.S. 36-2854), which rules out federal land, state parks, city property and property the Board of Regents owns or leases. Cities, towns and counties may also prohibit or restrict delivery within their jurisdiction (A.R.S. 36-2857).

Hotels depend on the property and the rule text. The statute does not name hotels, a hotel may ban marijuana on its premises (A.R.S. 36-2851), and ADHS's delivery rule could not be read for this page, so ask both the store and the hotel before ordering. Unlicensed delivery is illegal: anyone who delivers outside the rules owes a $20,000 civil penalty per violation, enforceable by the attorney general (A.R.S. 36-2854).

Yes, at your primary residence. Adults 21 and older may possess, grow and process up to six marijuana plants for personal use at their primary residence, and may keep and process what those plants produce on the premises where they were grown (A.R.S. 36-2852). A single residence where two or more adults live is capped at 12 plants in total, however many adults share the home.

Security and screening rules apply. Plants must be in a closet, room, greenhouse or other enclosed area on the grounds of the residence with a lock or other security device that keeps minors out, and they must not be visible from public view without binoculars, aircraft or other optical aids (A.R.S. 36-2852). Growing outside those conditions is a petty offense for a first violation and a class 3 misdemeanor after that (A.R.S. 36-2853).

Processing at home has limits. Adults may make concentrate from their own harvest only by manual or mechanical means, such as sieving or ice water separation, and not by chemical extraction or chemical synthesis (A.R.S. 36-2852). The law does not authorize anyone other than a licensed establishment to process or manufacture marijuana with any liquid or gas, other than alcohol, that has a flashpoint below 100 degrees Fahrenheit (A.R.S. 36-2851).

For travelers, home grow rarely applies. The protection covers an individual's primary residence, so a hotel room or short-term rental does not qualify. Adults may give up to six plants to another adult 21 or older for free if the transfer is not advertised or promoted (A.R.S. 36-2852), and a landlord or other property owner may prohibit cultivation on property it owns or controls (A.R.S. 36-2851).

Adult-use purchases carry a 16 percent excise tax on the price of all marijuana and marijuana products a marijuana establishment sells to a consumer (A.R.S. 42-5452). The excise is not counted in the tax base for transaction privilege tax and is not subject to any county, city, town or special district tax. Marijuana dispensed to a registered qualifying patient or caregiver by a dual licensee or nonprofit medical dispensary is exempt from it.

Arizona's sales tax is added as well. Prop 207 treats marijuana as tangible personal property subject to transaction privilege tax in the retail classification (A.R.S. 36-2864). The state retail rate is 5 percent plus a 0.6 percent additional rate increment that runs through June 30, 2041, for 5.6 percent (A.R.S. 42-5010, 42-5010.01), and counties and cities add their own rates. The state and localities may not levy any other tax or fee aimed at marijuana sales.

In Phoenix the total comes to 25.1 percent of the price. The city's combined rate chart, effective January 1, 2026, lists adult-use marijuana retail sales at 2.8 percent for Phoenix, 5.6 percent for the state and 0.7 percent for Maricopa County, a combined 9.1 percent, falling to 8.3 percent on the portion of a single item above $14,338. Adding the 16 percent excise gives 25.1 percent; rates in other cities differ.

Medical purchases skip the excise but not sales tax, and Phoenix's chart lists medical marijuana retail sales at the same 9.1 percent combined rate. Excise revenue goes to the Smart and Safe Arizona Fund, which first pays program costs and then sends 33 percent to community college districts, 31.4 percent to police, fire and sheriffs' departments, 25.4 percent to the highway user revenue fund, 10 percent to justice reinvestment and 0.2 percent to the attorney general (A.R.S. 36-2856).

Partly. A registry card, or its equivalent, issued by another state, district, territory, commonwealth or insular possession that lets a visiting patient possess or use marijuana at home has the same force and effect in Arizona as an Arizona card, except that the visiting patient may not obtain marijuana from a nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary (A.R.S. 36-2804.03). A visiting patient is a nonresident, or a person who has lived in Arizona for less than 30 days (A.R.S. 36-2801).

That protection matters for possession, not purchase. An Arizona registry card protects a patient who possesses no more than the allowable amount of 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana (A.R.S. 36-2801, 36-2811), and the statute gives a qualifying out-of-state card the same force and effect. Because a visiting card cannot be used to buy at a dispensary, a cardholder 21 or older buys at an adult-use establishment like any other visitor.

At the counter, adult-use rules apply: one ounce per transaction with no more than five grams of concentrate (A.R.S. 36-2858) and the 16 percent excise, which exempts only marijuana dispensed to registered patients and caregivers under Arizona's medical program (A.R.S. 42-5452). Arizona's own registered patients may obtain no more than 2.5 ounces from dispensaries in any 14-day period (A.R.S. 36-2816). The medical program dates to the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act of 2010.

A medical card does not change where or how you may use cannabis. The DUI statute says being entitled to use a drug under Arizona law is no defense to impaired driving (A.R.S. 28-1381), and federal land rules still apply. The 2026 federal rule moved marijuana subject to a state medical marijuana license into Schedule III, but the DEA says any other form of marijuana, including adult-use purchases, remains in Schedule I.

Most first mistakes are petty offenses. Possessing more than one ounce but not more than 2.5 ounces, with no more than 12.5 grams of concentrate, is a petty offense, and so is smoking marijuana in a public place or open space (A.R.S. 36-2853). A court may fine a petty offense up to $300 (A.R.S. 13-802). Prop 207 also says the odor of marijuana alone is not reasonable suspicion of a crime outside DUI investigations (A.R.S. 36-2852).

Past 2.5 ounces, the felony statute takes over. Possessing less than two pounds of marijuana that is not for sale is a class 6 felony (A.R.S. 13-3405), with a first-offense prison range of about four months to two years and a presumptive term of one year (A.R.S. 13-702), though probation is possible. Every conviction under that statute carries a fine of at least $750 or three times the value of the marijuana, whichever is greater, and a judge may not suspend it.

Selling is a serious felony. Selling or transferring marijuana for payment without a license, in an amount under two pounds, is a class 3 felony (A.R.S. 13-3405); only free transfers of an ounce or less between adults 21 and older are protected (A.R.S. 36-2852). Supplying anyone under 21 is never protected (A.R.S. 36-2851), and an unlicensed delivery service owes a $20,000 civil penalty per violation in addition to any criminal charge (A.R.S. 36-2854).

Driving and under-21 cases have their own scales. A first DUI brings at least 10 consecutive days in jail, a fine of at least $250 and two $500 assessments (A.R.S. 28-1381). People under 21 face a civil penalty of up to $100 for a first possession of an ounce or less, a petty offense for a second and a class 1 misdemeanor for a third (A.R.S. 36-2853), which can mean up to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine (A.R.S. 13-707, 13-802).

Check ADHS's AZ Care Check database. The statute requires ADHS to maintain and publish a current list of all marijuana establishments and testing facilities by name and license number (A.R.S. 36-2854), and AZ Care Check shows each licensed facility with its address, license numbers, license status, expiration dates and hours. On October 16, 2026 it listed 170 active adult-use establishment licenses, 169 of them at operating sites, and 136 active medical dispensary licenses.

Most stores hold two licenses. Of the 180 active marijuana facilities in the database, 133 were dual licensees selling medical and adult-use cannabis at one site, 37 held only an adult-use establishment license, 3 were medical-only dispensaries in Safford, Payson and Rio Rico, and 7 were testing laboratories. Licenses run two years, and the statute ties the number of establishment licenses to one for every 10 registered pharmacies, plus extra licenses for counties with few dispensaries and 26 social equity licenses (A.R.S. 36-2854).

Licensed products carry visible markers. Everything leaves the store in child-resistant packaging, labels carry a QR code linking to the harvest date, strain, extraction method and an impurities lab report (A.R.S. 36-2854.01), and stores may not sell products shaped like a human, animal, insect, fruit, toy or cartoon (A.R.S. 36-2860). Since July 1, 2026, marijuana ads must carry the warning about use under 21 or during pregnancy, and ad platforms must name the licensee and its license number (A.R.S. 36-2859).

THC sold outside a dispensary is not legal in Arizona. The Attorney General's Opinion I24-005, posted March 11, 2024, concluded that Arizona law does not permit unlicensed entities to sell delta-8 and other hemp-synthesized intoxicants, and in March 2025 the office told retailers that selling THC-infused edibles or beverages without a marijuana establishment license is illegal, with enforcement from April 24, 2025. Buy only from a store on the ADHS list.