Who regulates cannabis retail in California?

California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) is the state cannabis regulator for California. Official site: https://cannabis.ca.gov.

What seed-to-sale track-and-trace system does California use?

California uses METRC (Franwell) for seed-to-sale traceability — the de-facto standard across most regulated states. CannAgent maps its inventory and transfer events to METRC's required fields.

What cannabis taxes apply to retail in California?

At the register, as of September 2026: the 15% cannabis excise on adult-use and medical sales, plus state and district sales tax (typically 9 to 10.5% combined) on non-exempt sales; some cities add a cannabis business tax on top, and that one is billed on your gross sales, not added to the customer’s ticket.

What are the cannabis purchase limits in California?

Adult-use (21+), per customer, per day: Non-concentrated cannabis 28.5 g; Cannabis concentrate, including concentrate contained in cannabis products 8 g; Immature cannabis plants 6 plants (Cal. Code Regs. tit. 4, §15409(a)).

Is CannAgent available for California dispensaries?

Not yet — California is not open to new stores. Target: December 2026. Join the waitlist. Targets, not promises. Each state's rules come first. Joining the CA list gets you one email when California opens.

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Waitlist

California is not open to new stores yet. Target: December 2026. Join the waitlist.

The CA rules on this page are researched from the regulator’s and legislature’s own sources; the date we last checked them is in the regulator card below. There is nothing to sign up for here yet. The waitlist gets you one email when California opens.

DCC

Target: Dec 2026

California dispensary POS for DCC rules and Metrc

For the California operator paying four to seven vendors for what one system should do. Written against DCC rules: the 15% excise held flat through June 2028 under AB-564, the per-day purchase limits in 4 CCR §15409, and a state, city and county tax stack confirmed with you at onboarding, because we do not guess a municipal rate.

Seed-to-sale system: Metrc (Franwell)
Taxes at the register: At the register, as of September 2026: the 15% cannabis excise on adult-use and medical sales, plus state and district sales tax (typically 9 to 10.5% combined) on non-exempt sales; some cities add a cannabis business tax on top, and that one is billed on your gross sales, not added to the customer’s ticket.
Purchase limits: Quoted from Cal. Code Regs. tit. 4, §15409(a) below
CannAgent in CA: Target: December 2026. Join the waitlist.

Regulator

California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC)

https://cannabis.ca.gov ↗

We re-check this regulatormonthly— stable rules, low expected churnLast checked 2026-10-21.

California purchase limits

These are the state’s limits, quoted from the rule. Each block names its source and the day we read it there.

Adult-use (21+) · per customer, per day

Non-concentrated cannabis	28.5 g
Cannabis concentrate, including concentrate contained in cannabis products	8 g
Immature cannabis plants	6 plants

The limit is per day, not per visit, and the 8 g counts concentrate inside edibles and other manufactured products too.

Source: Cal. Code Regs. tit. 4, §15409(a) ↗ · read 2026-10-21

Your rules, handled

California’s tax rules and purchase limits are written into CannAgent’s compliance engine from the rule text. Where a figure still waits on an answer from the DCC, it is flagged against the rule rather than guessed.

What we have written for California

California coverage is written against DCC rules and CDTFA guidance: the excise, the layered state, district and city tax stack, the per-day purchase limits, and Metrc reporting. A direct Metrc API connection is in flight, not shipped, and we say so before you sign.

Operator playbooks

Compliance ops playbook

State traceability reconciliation — the daily, weekly, monthly discipline

Buyer scorecard

Picking a cannabis POS: the 7-question scorecard

Migration playbook

POS migration: a 4-week playbook for cannabis dispensaries

Operations deep-dive

Cash discipline at a cannabis dispensary: variance, escalation, audit

California cannabis retail — common questions

Who regulates cannabis retail in California?: California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) is the state cannabis regulator for California. Official site: https://cannabis.ca.gov.
What seed-to-sale track-and-trace system does California use?: California uses METRC (Franwell) for seed-to-sale traceability — the de-facto standard across most regulated states. CannAgent maps its inventory and transfer events to METRC's required fields.
What cannabis taxes apply to retail in California?: At the register, as of September 2026: the 15% cannabis excise on adult-use and medical sales, plus state and district sales tax (typically 9 to 10.5% combined) on non-exempt sales; some cities add a cannabis business tax on top, and that one is billed on your gross sales, not added to the customer’s ticket.
What are the cannabis purchase limits in California?: Adult-use (21+), per customer, per day: Non-concentrated cannabis 28.5 g; Cannabis concentrate, including concentrate contained in cannabis products 8 g; Immature cannabis plants 6 plants (Cal. Code Regs. tit. 4, §15409(a)).
Is CannAgent available for California dispensaries?: Not yet — California is not open to new stores. Target: December 2026. Join the waitlist. Targets, not promises. Each state's rules come first. Joining the CA list gets you one email when California opens.

Target: December 2026. Join the waitlist.

Leave your details and you get one email when California opens. There is no queue and no position, and joining commits you to nothing.

Join the CA waitlist →Compare the 24 states we cover

Targets, not promises. Each state's rules come first.