Every state is a different license file.

Alaska

Alaska is an adult-use state with no statewide cap on marijuana licences.

Arizona

Arizona caps marijuana establishment licences by formula — one per ten registered pharmacies, plus 26 social equity licences — so entry is by purchase, not application.

California

A California cannabis licence cannot be transferred or assigned.

Colorado

Colorado cannabis licences are not sold like property.

Connecticut

A Connecticut cannabis business changes hands with Department of Consumer Protection approval, and most transactions also require a material-change notice to the Attorney General.

Delaware

Delaware licensed adult-use sales began on 1 August 2025, first at converted medical compassion centres.

Illinois

Illinois is a capped adult-use market split between two regulators: IDFPR licenses dispensaries, and the Department of Agriculture licenses cultivation centers, craft growers, infusers, and transporters.

Maine

Maine cannabis businesses are sold by getting Office of Cannabis Policy approval for the new owners.

Maryland

Maryland cannabis businesses are sold by getting Maryland Cannabis Administration approval for the new owners, and any transfer giving someone 5% or more needs review.

Massachusetts

A Massachusetts cannabis business is sold by getting Cannabis Control Commission approval for the new owners, not by moving the license.

Michigan

Michigan is an open-licence adult-use market regulated by the Cannabis Regulatory Agency.

Minnesota

Minnesota's adult-use market opened on 16 September 2025 and is regulated by the Office of Cannabis Management.

Missouri

Missouri runs a constitutional adult-use market under the Division of Cannabis Regulation at DHSS.

Montana

Montana is an adult-use state regulated by the Department of Revenue's Cannabis Control Division.

Nevada

Nevada cannabis licences are non-transferable by statute except through Cannabis Compliance Board procedures, so a sale is an approved change of ownership rather than a handover of the licence.

New Jersey

A New Jersey cannabis business is sold by getting the Cannabis Regulatory Commission to approve the new owners.

New Mexico

New Mexico cannabis licences cannot be transferred by assignment to another person or location, so a sale is a change of controlling persons on the existing licensee, filed as an amended application with fresh criminal history screening.

New York

A New York cannabis license cannot be sold on its own.

Ohio

Ohio is a capped adult-use market run by the Division of Cannabis Control inside the Department of Commerce.

Oregon

In Oregon, a buyer who will hold 51% or more of a licensed marijuana business, or who becomes a new licensee of record, must file a new application with the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission and be approved before using the licence.

Rhode Island

A Rhode Island cannabis business changes hands only with prior Cannabis Control Commission approval; no licence may be assigned, sold or moved without it, and a variance request is due at least 60 days before the change.

Vermont

Vermont cannabis businesses change hands through Cannabis Control Board approval of an ownership change, not by transferring a licence.

Washington

In Washington State, a cannabis business is sold by changing the true parties of interest in the licensed entity, and the Liquor and Cannabis Board must approve every new owner, officer, stockholder, and financier before the change.

Virginia

Virginia has a licensed medical cannabis market and no adult-use stores yet.

Alabama

Alabama legalised medical cannabis in 2021 but licensing was tied up in litigation until 2026.

Arkansas

Arkansas is medical-only under Amendment 98, with licensing by the Medical Marijuana Commission and enforcement by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division.

Florida

Florida licenses only medical cannabis, through vertically integrated medical marijuana treatment centers.

Hawaii

Hawaii is medical-only.

Kentucky

Kentucky's medicinal cannabis programme started on 1 January 2025 under KRS 218B, run by the Office of Medical Cannabis in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Louisiana

Louisiana has a medical-only therapeutic marijuana programme with an unusual structure: no more than two production licences, held by contractors of the LSU and Southern University agricultural centers, and no more than 30 retail locations built out from ten regional permits.

Mississippi

Mississippi runs an uncapped medical-only programme under the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire has no licensed commercial adult-use cannabis market.

North Dakota

North Dakota is a medical-only state under the Compassionate Care Act, run by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a medical-only state regulated by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania licenses medical marijuana only.

South Dakota

South Dakota is a medical-only state under SDCL 34-20G, regulated by the Department of Health.

Utah

Utah licenses medical cannabis only.

West Virginia

West Virginia runs a medical-only programme under the Medical Cannabis Act, chapter 16A of the state code, administered by the Office of Medical Cannabis in the Bureau for Public Health.

Nebraska

Nebraska voters approved medical cannabis in November 2024, and the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission has licensed a small number of cultivators.

Georgia

Georgia has a small medical-only cannabis market: six production licences (two Class 1, four Class 2) issued by the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, each vertically integrated with its own dispensaries.

Iowa

Iowa has no adult-use or full medical marijuana market.

Tennessee

Tennessee has no state-licensed marijuana market.

Texas

Texas has no adult-use market.

Idaho

Idaho has no licensed marijuana market, medical or adult-use, so there are no dispensaries, cultivators or licences to buy or sell.

Indiana

Indiana has no licensed marijuana market.

Kansas

Kansas has no licensed cannabis market of any kind.

North Carolina

North Carolina issues no state cannabis licence, medical or adult-use.

South Carolina

South Carolina has no licensed cannabis market.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin has no licensed marijuana market, medical or adult-use.

Wyoming

Wyoming has no licensed cannabis market, medical or adult-use, so there are no cannabis licences to buy or sell.