Marijuana legalization brings with it questions about what you can and cannot do. It gets even trickier in places like Philly where weed is medically legally and also decriminalized, but not recreationally legal. So how much weed can you legally possess in Philadelphia? How much can you have at your house? Can you grow your own weed? These are important questions to know the answers to if you are looking to walk the straight and narrow line of marijuana legality.
Let’s take a deeper look at how much marijuana the law allows you to carry in Philly. We will discuss how much weed can you legally possess in Philadelphia between the legal amounts if you are a medical marijuana patient and if you are not a medical marijuana patient.
How Much Weed Can You Legally Possess in Philadelphia?
| Legal Status | Amount you can possess |
| Medical Marijuana Patient | 90-day supply |
| Non-Medical Patient | 30 grams before facing legal consequences |
| Hemp-derived THC | No limit, but it is a legal gray-area |
In Philadelphia, marijuana is medically legal, but also decriminalized. Medical legalization means that you can purchase marijuana from a medical dispensary if you have a medical marijuana card. There are certain conditions that would qualify you for a medical card. You need to speak with a doctor, get prescribed, pay the state, then acquire your medical card before you can purchase medical marijuana.
So if you are a medical patient, the law says you can possess up to a “90 day supply”. How much that is exactly, that is left ambiguous. This includes all marijuana products together: flower, joints, gummies, topicals, etc. Medical marijuana is purchased through medical dispensaries located throughout the state. Just because you are a medical marijuana card holder does not mean that you can possess marijuana obtained from outside of the dispensary.
You should carry your medical marijuana card with you if you are traveling around with your purchased weed. You should also keep the marijuana products in their original packaging. This can help to avoid any unwanted confusion if you are stopped by police. They will need to see your medical marijuana card and the marijuana products need to be in their original packaging. Don’t think you can outsmart the police by carrying around street weed and your medical marijuana card. It will probably become a legal headache for you.
Decriminalization means that the city of Philadelphia has chosen not to pursue legal action for possession of small amounts of marijuana. This does not mean you can smoke in public, possess large quantities of marijuana products, or sell marijuana. But it does make personal use amounts pretty much legal.
If you are not a medical patient, you can possess up to 30 grams and only face a small fine. Anything over that and you may be looking at criminal charges. This is what decriminalization means for the non-medical marijuana user.
Another aspect to consider is THCa flower and hemp products. The Farm Bill of 2018 legalized hemp products including hemp-derived THC. THCa flower and marijuana are essentially the same exact thing, they just have different legal definitions. Marijuana is purchased through a medical dispensary in Pennsylvania. THCa flower is legally defined as hemp. Molecularly they are the same and have the same effects so it’s really just semantics, but it is important to know the law.
There is no limit on how much hemp you are allowed to possess, but this is a bit of a legal gray area so it may be best to err on the side of caution. Hemp-derived THC products can be purchased in a large number of locations both in-person and online. Some companies even offer delivery options. Hemp-derived THC products are generally cheaper than products found at the medical marijuana dispensary as well.
Summary of How Much Weed Can You Legally Possess in Philadelphia
In Philadelphia, marijuana is both medically legal and decriminalized. On top of that, hemp-derived THC products are federally legal under the Farm Bill. This can make knowing the laws a bit tricky when trying to find out how much weed can you legally possess in Philadelphia.
Medical marijuana patients can possess up to a 90-day supply of marijuana products.
Non-medical marijuana users fall under Philly’s decriminalization laws. You can possess up to 30 grams and only face a small fine for possession. But the point of decriminalization is that the cops don’t want to deal with small infractions, so as long as you are not rubbing it in their faces, you should be fine.
There is no limit on how much hemp-derived THC products you can possess. But you may have a hard time explaining to a cop that the pound of THCa flower you have is legally hemp and not marijuana.
The safest bet is to just buy a small amount at a time and use it inside your private residence. Be safe out there!
