San Jose, CA cannabis dispensaries: 13 licensed shops

From SJC, start with VTA Route 60, the Airport Flyer, which is free to ride from the airport. It stops at Terminal A (Stop 7) and Terminal B (Stop 5) and runs to Milpitas BART and Winchester stations.

For downtown and Purple Lotus on West Santa Clara Street, ride Route 60 to Metro/Airport station and change to the Blue or Green light rail toward downtown; the airport puts the trip at 25 to 35 minutes. The closest licensed shop is STIIIZY Coleman, formerly Airfield Supply Co., at 1190 Coleman Avenue, about 1.0 mile from the airport's Airport Boulevard address in a straight line; Route 60 stops about 0.11 mile from it. Next come the North San Jose shops: Harborside about 1.7 miles, The Cake House about 2.0 miles and Purple Lotus on Commercial Street about 2.3 miles.

BART reached San Jose on 13 Jun 2020. The Berryessa/North San Jose station at 1620 Berryessa Road sits inside VTA's Berryessa Transit Center, and the Rapid 500 bus runs from there along Santa Clara Street, past the downtown Purple Lotus, to Diridon Station. Diridon is directly across from SAP Center, where the Sharks play.

For Caltrain, the airport route is Route 60 to the Santa Clara Transit Center. You can also walk out of SJC on Airport Parkway and the marked crosswalks across Airport Boulevard, but there is no direct pedestrian or bike access via Skyport Drive.

Three of the listed shops cluster north of downtown in a warehouse-and-retail belt: Purple Lotus at 752 Commercial Street, The Cake House at 1075 North 10th Street and Harborside at 1365 North 10th Street. VTA Route 66 serves this stretch with stops on Oakland Road at Charles Street and on 10th Street at Hedding Street, and the nearest light rail stop is Gish Station on the Blue and Green lines, about 0.6 to 1.1 miles away in a straight line depending on the shop. Elemental Wellness is farther east at 985 Timothy Drive, where the closest VTA stop is Route 61 at Taylor and 21st Streets, the Berryessa/North San Jose BART bus bays are about 0.5 mile away, and the shop lists complimentary parking.

Downtown, Purple Lotus's second store at 66 West Santa Clara Street is the only shop on this page within half a mile of a light rail station. Santa Clara Station on the Blue and Green light rail lines and the Rapid 500 and Rapid 522 stops at Santa Clara and 1st and 2nd Streets are all within about 0.1 mile, and Rapid 500 connects the block to Berryessa BART and Diridon Station.

South of downtown, Canna Culture's original store at 3591 Charter Park Drive sits off Highway 87 and Capitol Expressway near the Capitol Drive-ins, and the shop says it has handicap parking and access. The nearest light rail stop is Capitol Station on the Blue Line, about 0.7 mile away in a straight line, and Route 70 stops at Capitol Expressway and Vistapark Drive. Canna Culture also runs a Midtown store at 1101 West San Carlos Street under its own DCC license.

Near the airport, STIIIZY Coleman at 1190 Coleman Avenue is about 1.0 mile from SJC, and VTA Route 60, which is free to ride from the airport, stops about 0.11 mile from it at Coleman and Brokaw. In West San Jose, PLU2O sits at Stevens Creek and Winchester Boulevards, a few blocks west of Santana Row, with Route 23 and Rapid 523 at the corner, and Haze's Saratoga Avenue store is about 0.05 mile from a Route 57 stop.

Farther south, four listed shops sit near Monterey Road and Curtner Avenue: Haze on Almaden Road, about 0.5 mile from Curtner light rail station; Exotix on Little Orchard Street; White Fire on Old Tully Road, about 0.13 mile from the Monterey and Old Tully bus stop; and DELI on Pullman Way, about 0.08 mile from Routes 66 and 68 at Monterey and Lewis. All distances are straight lines from license coordinates to VTA stop locations.

San Jose went from approximately 120 dispensaries and clubs when the city adopted its medical cannabis program in June 2014 to 16 registered collectives by December 2015, and the council authorized those registered collectives to sell to adults 21 and older from 1 Jan 2018.

Voters approved Measure U on 2 Nov 2010, allowing a tax of up to 10% on marijuana businesses' gross receipts, with 78.33% voting yes. The council's 2011 medical cannabis ordinances were suspended on 28 Oct 2011 after a referendum petition was filed, and the regulatory ordinance was repealed on 14 Feb 2012.

On 17 Jun 2014 the council approved the land use and regulatory ordinances that still shape the market. About 65 operators applied, and by the 18 Dec 2015 deadline 16 had received a Notice of Completed Registration. The city limited dispensaries to industrial zoning districts, which the industry calls the Green Zone, so storefronts ended up in only four of the 10 council districts.

In June 2016, 64.56% of San Jose voters rejected a measure that would have overturned the city's program and allowed at least 50 cannabis businesses. That November, 57% of San Jose voters supported Proposition 64. On 14 Nov 2017 the council let the registered collectives sell to adults 21 and older from 1 Jan 2018, and in January 2018 the police department's Division of Medical Marijuana Control was renamed the Division of Cannabis Regulation.

San Jose Spotlight reported in November 2023 that cannabis sales generate as much as $18 million a year in city taxes.

The Sharks opened their 2026-27 regular-season home schedule at SAP Center on 1 Oct 2026 and play their last regular-season home game there on 10 Apr 2027, the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot starts at West Santa Clara Street and North 1st Street at 8:30 a.m. on 26 Nov 2026, and Christmas in the Park runs daily from noon to 10 p.m. at Plaza de Cesar Chavez from 27 Nov 2026 to 1 Jan 2027.

The Turkey Trot organizers say most downtown metered parking is free on Thanksgiving Day. The downtown Purple Lotus is on the same stretch of West Santa Clara Street as the start line.

At the San Jose airport weather station, August is the warmest month (normal high 81.4 F), December and January lows sit near 42 F, and almost all of the 13.48 inches of normal annual rain falls from October through May.

None of these is a cannabis event. A temporary cannabis event, where cannabis is sold and consumed, needs a DCC event organizer license and a temporary event license at a location the city or county approves, and we found no such event approved in San Jose.