Nevada cannabis rules for visitors

Adults 21 and older may possess and buy up to 2.5 ounces of usable cannabis or one-fourth of an ounce of concentrated cannabis, or a mix within that limit, at one time (NRS 678D.200), limits that rose from one ounce and one-eighth of an ounce on January 1, 2024. The Cannabis Compliance Board counts edibles and other products against the concentrate side at up to 7,087 milligrams of THC, and a store may not sell you a combination that exceeds the limit. Growing up to six plants at home is allowed only where no licensed store lies within 25 miles (NRS 678D.310).

Bring an unexpired government photo ID; a foreign passport counts and no residency is required (NAC 678B.306). Use what you buy on private property where the owner allows it or in one of the state's licensed consumption lounges; smoking on the Strip, in a casino, in a park or in any vehicle, including a rideshare, is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $600 (NRS 678D.310). Possession is banned on all Clark County airport property under county code, and federal law governs flights, state lines and federal land such as Lake Mead, Red Rock Canyon and Death Valley. Casino resorts may ban cannabis in guest rooms, and delivery cannot go to any address that holds a gaming license (NAC 678B.327).

The regulator is the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board. Check any shop's license on the state license lookup before you buy.

Adults 21 and older may possess, buy or carry up to 2.5 ounces of usable cannabis or one-fourth of an ounce of concentrated cannabis, or a mix within that limit, at any one time (NRS 678D.200). The same figures cap a single purchase: the Cannabis Compliance Board's transaction chart says the transaction and possession limit rose to 2.5 ounces and a quarter ounce of concentrate on January 1, 2024, when Senate Bill 277 of 2023 took effect.

Edibles, vapes and other products count against the concentrate side. The CCB's consumer FAQ reads the quarter-ounce limit as cannabis products containing not more than 7,087 milligrams of THC, and a store may not sell a combination of flower and products that exceeds the legal limit. The Board's equivalency chart scales the two together, so one ounce of flower leaves room for 4,255 milligrams of THC in other products.

Packaging rules shape what you will see on the shelf. A single package may hold no more than 2.5 ounces of flower, 3,500 milligrams of THC in concentrate or 100 milligrams of THC in an edible, labeled in servings of no more than 10 milligrams (NRS 678D.420). You may hand up to 2.5 ounces or a quarter ounce of concentrate to another adult 21 or older as a gift, as long as nothing is paid and the transfer is not advertised (NRS 678D.200).

One wrinkle: the Nevada Administrative Code has not caught up. NAC 678B.003 and NAC 678B.309 still print the pre-2024 figures of one ounce and one-eighth of an ounce. The statute controls, and the CCB's chart and FAQ apply the 2.5-ounce figure, but a store's point-of-sale system is what stops a sale at the line, so do not expect to argue past it.

You must be 21 or older, and a dispensary must refuse the sale unless you show valid, unexpired identification with a photograph and date of birth (NAC 678B.306). Nothing in NRS 678D.200 or the ID rule requires Nevada residency, so a visitor with an out-of-state license buys on the same terms as a resident. A medical cardholder under 21 may enter and buy at a dual licensee (NRS 678D.310).

The accepted forms are a driver's license or instruction permit from any U.S. state or territory, a state proof-of-age ID card, a U.S. military ID, a Merchant Mariner Credential, a passport issued by or recognized by the United States government or a permanent resident card, and a tribal ID that requires proof of age (NAC 678B.306). A foreign passport the U.S. government recognizes fits that wording, though the CCB's FAQ speaks only of U.S. passports, which it accepts from residents and non-residents alike.

The CCB's FAQ adds one allowance for expired cards: a U.S. state driver's license or ID card expired for less than two years may be accepted if you also show a second document confirming identity, such as a birth certificate, Social Security card or an employer photo ID. Consumption lounges scan IDs with an approved scanner before letting anyone in and apply the same list of documents (NAC 678D.210, NAC 678D.220).

Under-21 rules carry their own penalties. Falsely claiming to be 21 to obtain cannabis is a misdemeanor punished with up to 24 hours of community service, a required meeting or an evaluation, and a person under 21 who enters or loiters in an adult-use establishment faces a fine of up to $500 (NRS 678D.310). Stores may not demand personal information beyond government ID to check your age (NRS 678D.500).

The short version: use it on private property where the owner allows it, or in a licensed consumption lounge. Smoking or otherwise consuming cannabis in a public place, inside a retail store or in a vehicle is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $600 (NRS 678D.310). The CCB's guidance lists the same rules: no public place, no moving vehicle even as a passenger, and private property only if the owner has not prohibited it.

The statute does not define public place, but a companion section describes the setting as any public place, any place open to the public or any place exposed to public view, and strips the exemption from prosecution when possession is discovered that way (NRS 678D.300). The Strip, sidewalks, parking garages, pool decks, parks and trails all fit that description, and a hotel balcony visible from the street is a poor bet.

Private property owners keep control. A person who occupies, owns or controls private property may prohibit or restrict smoking, cultivation, sale or delivery of cannabis there, and state and local agencies may ban it in buildings they control (NRS 678D.510). Employers may keep workplace policies against it. Separately, Nevada's indoor smoking law bars smoking in most indoor workplaces and carves out lounges for cannabis (NRS 202.2483).

Lounges are the only legal public option. A person may smoke or consume cannabis in a cannabis consumption lounge (NRS 678D.310), and the Clean Indoor Air Act expressly permits cannabis smoking there (NRS 202.2483). As of the CCB's September 1, 2026 list, three lounges hold licenses, all in the Las Vegas area: Dazed!, Society and Smoke and Mirrors.

No Nevada statute names hotel rooms. A room is private property, so the operator decides, and NRS 678D.510 lets any person who owns or controls private property prohibit smoking or any other cannabis activity there. The CCB's guidance says cannabis can be consumed on private property only as long as the owner has not prohibited it, so a resort's no-cannabis policy is enforceable as a condition of your stay. Check the property's house rules before you book.

Casino floors, lobbies, pools and restaurants are places open to the public, so consuming there is the same $600 misdemeanor as on the sidewalk (NRS 678D.310). The indoor smoking law's exemption for gaming areas covers smoking in areas of casinos where minors may not loiter (NRS 202.2483); it does not override the cannabis statute, which treats a place open to the public as off limits (NRS 678D.300).

Gaming regulators have kept a wall between casinos and cannabis. The Gaming Control Board told licensees in Notice 2014-39 that involvement in a marijuana establishment is not consistent with the effective regulation of gaming while federal law is unchanged. The Gaming Policy Committee's resolution of March 5, 2018 reaffirmed that gaming licensees shall not participate in the marijuana industry, should not lease to or finance cannabis businesses, and may host cannabis trade events only where no possession or consumption occurs on the licensed property.

The practical effect for a visitor: a casino resort can ban cannabis everywhere on its property, including guest rooms, and the regulators' position gives it every reason to. Delivery services cannot bring an order to any location that has been issued a gaming license (NAC 678B.327), so a Strip resort is off the delivery map as well. The three licensed lounges are at addresses on West Desert Inn Road, Paradise Road and Sammy Davis Jr. Drive, per the CCB's list.

Nevada's lounge program began with Assembly Bill 341 in 2021, which authorized the CCB to license two kinds of venue: a retail cannabis consumption lounge attached or immediately adjacent to an adult-use retail store, and an independent lounge that is not (NRS 678A.157, NRS 678A.237). The Board issued 40 prospective licenses on November 30, 2022, approved the first conditional licenses on June 20, 2023, and its September 2026 licensee list shows three lounges licensed.

Lounges sell only single-use cannabis products and ready-to-consume products prepared on site, plus paraphernalia and hemp items (NAC 678D.240). Products must come from a Nevada adult-use retail store (NAC 678D.260). A single sale is capped at 3.5 grams of flower, 300 milligrams of THC in an inhalable extract or 10 milligrams in an edible, capsule or tincture, and every lounge must offer low-dose options of 2 milligrams of THC or 0.5 grams of flower (NAC 678D.230, NAC 678D.240).

You cannot bring your own. The CCB's lounge guidance states that customers must purchase what they consume from the lounge and that cannabis obtained outside the lounge is prohibited. Nothing leaves either: a lounge may not let a consumer leave the premises with unconsumed cannabis, must destroy what is left and must tell customers that removing products is illegal (NAC 678D.240, NAC 678D.370). A retail lounge needs an approved plan to hold or return purchases made in the adjoining store.

Alcohol, tobacco and nicotine products are not permitted for use or sale in a lounge (NAC 678D.250). Entry requires a scanned government ID showing 21 or older, staff must refuse anyone showing visible overconsumption, and free water is required (NAC 678D.210, NAC 678D.220, NAC 678D.380). Lounges keep the hours they filed with the Board and the locality, and may not sell in the last half hour before closing unless open 24 hours (NAC 678D.200). A lounge may not sit on airport property (NRS 678B.322).

Consuming cannabis in a vehicle is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $600, and the statute does not distinguish driver from passenger (NRS 678D.310). The CCB's plain-language version: you cannot use cannabis in a moving vehicle, even as a passenger. That covers a rental car, a taxi, an Uber or a limousine. Carrying sealed, legal amounts in a car falls within the possession exemption (NRS 678D.200); rental companies may add their own contract terms.

Driving under the influence of a controlled substance is unlawful (NRS 484C.110), and the fact that a person is entitled to use the drug under Nevada law, including a medical card, is not a defense. The misdemeanor per se table of blood and urine levels no longer lists marijuana; the 2 nanograms per milliliter THC and 5 nanograms per milliliter metabolite blood thresholds apply only to felony-level offenses, such as a third DUI within seven years or a DUI causing death or substantial bodily harm (NRS 484C.110, NRS 484C.400).

By driving in Nevada you are deemed to have consented to an evidentiary test of blood, urine, breath or another bodily substance when an officer has reasonable grounds, and the officer must warn that refusal brings license revocation (NRS 484C.160). A first DUI within seven years is a misdemeanor: 2 days to 6 months in jail or 48 to 96 hours of community service, a fine of $400 to $1,000 and a paid education course on substance use (NRS 484C.400).

Timing matters because edibles are slow. The CCB's safety guidance says effects can take two hours to peak after eating or drinking cannabis and recommends starting with no more than 5 milligrams of THC and waiting at least two hours before taking more. Settle your ride before you consume, and keep anything you are carrying unopened and out of sight in the vehicle.

Clark County banned marijuana at every airport it operates in 2017. Ordinance 4513, passed September 5, 2017, added Clark County Code 20.04.090, which makes it unlawful to possess, consume, use, display, transfer, distribute, sell, transport or grow marijuana on any airport or Department of Aviation property, including terminals, parking and ground transportation facilities and roadways, at Harry Reid International (then McCarran), North Las Vegas, Henderson Executive, Jean and Overton. A violation is a misdemeanor, civil fines or both.

Reno-Tahoe International's security page says federal law prohibits the transportation of recreational marijuana and directs medical patients to TSA's rules. TSA's page says its officers do not search for illegal drugs, but if an illegal substance is found during screening the matter is referred to a law enforcement officer, and the final decision rests with the TSA officer. The FAA's 2022 compliance letter treats marijuana as a Schedule I substance whose cultivation, storage or distribution is prohibited on federally obligated airport property regardless of state law.

The amnesty boxes reported at the Las Vegas airport in 2018 are not described on the airport authority's website as far as we could find, so treat the ordinance, not the bins, as the rule: use up or dispose of cannabis before you reach airport property, including the rental car center and parking garages. Lounges are barred from airport property by statute as well (NRS 678B.322).

Driving it out of state is a separate problem. Nevada's law exempts adults only from prosecution by Nevada, so its protection ends at the state line (NRS 678D.200), and licensed delivery may only occur within the borders of the state (NAC 678B.321). Under federal law, simple possession of a controlled substance carries up to one year in prison and a minimum $1,000 fine for a first offense (21 U.S.C. 844), and that law applies on the highway into California, Arizona or Utah.

Cannabis is still illegal on federal land, including national parks and military bases, in the CCB's words. In National Park Service units, which include Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Death Valley National Park, federal regulations prohibit possessing a controlled substance outside a valid prescription (36 CFR 2.35), and Lake Mead's laws page names the Code of Federal Regulations and the Superintendent's Compendium as the governing rules. Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, 17 miles west of the Strip, is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Federal scheduling changed in 2026, but not for adult-use products. A Drug Enforcement Administration final rule effective April 28, 2026 placed FDA-approved drug products containing marijuana, and marijuana subject to a state medical marijuana license, in Schedule III; the rule states that any other form of marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance. Either way it stays controlled, so simple possession on federal land remains a federal offense punishable by up to a year in prison and a minimum $1,000 fine (21 U.S.C. 844).

Tribal land runs on tribal law. NRS 223.250 lets the Governor sign agreements with tribal governments to coordinate state and tribal cannabis laws, and the CCB lists compacts with 13 tribes, including the Las Vegas Paiute, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and the Pyramid Lake Paiute. Tribal establishments are not licensed by the Cannabis Compliance Board and do not appear on its licensee list; a tribal ID that requires proof of age is an accepted form of identification at state-licensed stores (NAC 678B.306).

Nevada State Parks have no cannabis-specific rule in NAC 407 or NRS 407, but a park is a public place, so the $600 public-consumption misdemeanor applies (NRS 678D.310). Possession within the legal amount is not itself an offense in a state park. The federal side is stricter: state legalization offers no cover at Lake Mead, Red Rock or Death Valley, and the federal possession penalty applies.

Delivery is legal, and most listed stores offer it. The CCB's FAQ says customer delivery is allowed, that only licensed dispensaries may deliver, and that every delivery vehicle must be inspected and carry a Board-issued inspection card. On the Board's September 2026 list of licensees, 62 of 78 Southern Nevada store listings and 20 of 31 Northern Nevada listings show a Y under Delivery Option. A store may use a third-party platform only if the sale is made through the store and the platform is Board-approved (NRS 678D.430, NAC 678B.321).

The limits are tight. A store may not deliver to any location that has been issued a gaming license (NAC 678B.327), which rules out casino resorts. It may not knowingly deliver more than one ounce to a consumer at a private residence in one calendar day, may carry no more than five ounces per trip, must deliver only to the person who ordered, only during store hours and only within Nevada (NAC 678B.321, NAC 678B.327).

At the door the agent scans an ID from the same list a store accepts, delivers nothing but cannabis and related items, and must bring the order back if the customer is not there (NAC 678B.321, NAC 678B.324). Products travel sealed in a lockbox, out of sight, in an unmarked vehicle fitted with an alarm (NAC 678B.327, NAC 678B.330). The rules do not mention hotels without gaming licenses or vacation rentals, so ask the store whether it will deliver to your address.

Home growing is legal only far from a store. An adult 21 or older may cultivate up to six plants, with no more than 12 per residence, in an enclosed, locked area not exposed to public view (NRS 678D.200). But cultivating within 25 miles of a licensed adult-use retail store is a separate offense unless you hold a cultivation license (NRS 678D.310). The CCB's guidance states the test plainly: only if there is not a state-licensed retail cannabis store within 25 miles of the home.

The penalties climb with each violation: a fine of up to $600 for a first offense, up to $1,000 for a second, a gross misdemeanor for a third and a category E felony for a fourth (NRS 678D.310). Growing plants visible from a public place by normal unaided vision, or on property you do not lawfully possess, carries the same schedule. Nearly every visitor destination has a store within 25 miles, so home growing is in practice a rural allowance.

Medical patients work under a different section. A cardholder's collective limit is 2.5 ounces and 12 plants (NRS 678C.200), but once a dispensary opens in the patient's county of residence the patient may not cultivate, unless an exception applies, such as no dispensary within 25 miles of the residence when the card was first issued, or an inability to travel because of illness (NRS 678C.200).

Three taxes sit on an adult-use purchase. A 15 percent excise is imposed on the first wholesale sale by a cultivation facility, figured on fair market value for affiliate sales and on the sales price otherwise; it is the cultivator's obligation and is built into shelf prices (NRS 372A.290). A 10 percent excise is imposed on each retail sale by an adult-use store or consumption lounge; it is the seller's obligation but may be recovered from the purchaser and is separate from and in addition to sales tax (NRS 372A.290).

Then ordinary sales tax applies at the county rate. The Department of Taxation's rate map lists 8.375 percent in Clark County, which covers Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Mesquite, and 8.265 percent in Washoe County, which covers Reno and Sparks; Carson City is 7.60 percent and Douglas County 7.10 percent. The Department's cannabis FAQ confirms the structure in force since January 1, 2024: 15 percent wholesale excise, sales tax and 10 percent retail excise.

Medical cardholders are exempt from the 10 percent retail excise, including at adult-use stores, which are all deemed dual licensees (NRS 372A.290, NRS 678D.490). The Taxation FAQ says the retail excise is figured on the discounted price after any promotion and does not include the sales tax. Retail excise revenue goes to the State Education Fund; wholesale excise revenue first pays the Board's and local governments' costs, capped at $5 million a year for local governments, with the rest to the same fund (NRS 372A.290).

Nevada recognizes out-of-state patients by statute. A nonresident who is authorized to use cannabis medically under the laws of his or her home state or jurisdiction is deemed to hold a Nevada registry card, as long as the person stays within Nevada's medical limits (NRS 678C.470). A dispensary may dispense to that person on presentation of any document valid to prove the authorization, which may include a physician's written documentation if that is enough at home (NRS 678C.470).

In practice the CCB's FAQ tells patients that the Board offers reciprocity to some state residents and to ask the dispensary whether their state is covered; a nonresident patient may show a passport or a state ID matching the state that issued the card. The benefit is real: medical sales are exempt from the 10 percent retail excise (NRS 372A.290), and the patient limit is 2.5 ounces of usable cannabis and 12 plants (NRS 678C.200), with product limits of 10,000 milligrams of THC in concentrate or edibles (NAC 678B.003).

Nevada's own program is run by the Division of Public and Behavioral Health, which issues registry cards for a one-year term at $50 or a two-year term at $100 and lists 14 qualifying conditions, including cancer, seizures, chronic pain and anxiety disorder. The Division's FAQ says there are no reciprocal agreements with other states to honor a Nevada card, but some states accept out-of-state medical cards under their own laws, including Hawaii (HRS 329-123.5), Maine (22 M.R.S. 2423-D) and Rhode Island (R.I. Gen. Laws 21-28.6-4), each with its own conditions, so check the rules of the state you are visiting. Since January 1, 2024 every adult-use store is deemed a dual licensee and may serve cardholders (NRS 678D.490).

The medical program predates adult use by many years. Nevada voters approved Question 9 in 1998 and again in 2000, adding Article 4, Section 38 to the state constitution, which directs the Legislature to provide for medical use on a physician's advice, a confidential registry and appropriate methods of supply, while stating that it does not authorize medical use in public. Licensed dispensaries followed Senate Bill 374 in 2013.

Most visitor trouble is a misdemeanor. Smoking or consuming in a public place, in a retail store or in a vehicle: a fine of up to $600 (NRS 678D.310). Giving cannabis to anyone under 21 is a misdemeanor, and giving it to anyone under 18 is a gross misdemeanor, which carries up to 364 days in jail or a $2,000 fine (NRS 678D.310, NRS 193.140). A standard misdemeanor in Nevada tops out at six months in jail or a $1,000 fine (NRS 193.150).

Under 21 and caught: falsely claiming to be 21 to obtain cannabis brings up to 24 hours of community service, a required meeting or an evaluation, after which the court seals the record once the terms are met; entering or loitering in an adult-use establishment is a fine of up to $500 (NRS 678D.310). Knowingly delivering cannabis to someone under 21 is outside the adult-use exemption unless the person showed government ID of age (NRS 678D.300).

Going over the limit is the serious one. Above 2.5 ounces or a quarter ounce of concentrate the exemption from prosecution disappears (NRS 678D.200), and the general drug statute takes over: possession of more than one ounce of marijuana, or more than one-eighth of an ounce of concentrate, is a category E felony (NRS 453.336), meaning one to four years in prison, normally suspended for probation, and a fine of up to $5,000 (NRS 193.130). Possession discovered because you were using in public is also outside the exemption (NRS 678D.300).

Other lines to respect: manufacturing concentrate by chemical extraction without a license is a category E felony (NRS 678D.310); possessing a firearm while under the influence is excluded from the exemption (NRS 678D.300); and a first DUI is a misdemeanor with 2 days to 6 months in jail or 48 to 96 hours of community service and a $400 to $1,000 fine (NRS 484C.400). Lawful conduct under the exemption cannot be used to seize property or impose a civil penalty (NRS 678D.200).

The only legal place to buy is a state-licensed retail store, and the CCB's FAQ says a legitimate store is a walk-in storefront with clear signage that must conspicuously post its Nevada cannabis establishment license and business license. The Board publishes an Excel list of active licensees, dated September 1, 2026 at this writing, along with an Interactive License Search on its homepage and maps of Northern Nevada, Southern Nevada and lounge locations. The September 2026 list carries 106 retail dispensary licenses and three lounges.

Licensed stores may sell only cannabis, cannabis products, paraphernalia and tested hemp or CBD items; no food or drink without cannabis, no nicotine and no alcohol (NAC 678B.312). Products are kept behind a counter, and you may ask for the certificate of analysis from the independent lab that tested what you are buying (NAC 678B.315). Every store sells only during the hours it filed with the Board and the locality allows, and must post those hours at the entrance (NAC 678B.300).

Nevada sets no statewide opening or closing time; the hours are the store's filed hours within what its city or county permits (NAC 678B.300), so check the shop's posted schedule. Tribal dispensaries are not on the CCB list because the Board does not license them. A store may not sell through an unlicensed third party or broker (NRS 678D.430), and the CCB's FAQ says only licensed dispensaries may sell or deliver cannabis, so any seller who is not on the list is not legal.