How Old Do You Have to Be to Smoke Weed Legally?

The rapid change in cannabis laws across all of Canada and much of the United States has a lot of people excited. It also has a lot of people asking questions. Many – especially young people – are wondering, how old do you have to be to smoke weed legally?

Let’s take a moment to get to the bottom of the age requirements surround legal cannabis.

How Old Do You Have to Be to Legally Smoke Weed?

For all practical purposes, the age laws for weed are pretty standard. In all U.S. states that have legalized it, you must be over the age of 21, at least for recreational weed. Some states are still wrangling the finishing touches on their regulations, but for the most part any person over 18 can get a medicinal marijuana card, which they can then use at any dispensary. In some cases, children under 18 with extreme medical conditions that can be treated with cannabis can receive parental and doctor permission.

In Canada, once the new recreational cannabis legality goes into effect, anyone over the age of 18 will be able to legally smoke weed. At the moment, recreational marijuana can be purchased in Vancouver by anyone over 21, and adults 18 and over with a medical card can buy it nationwide.

Right now in the United States, the 21+ standard seems to be based off of the logic that if you can buy alcohol at that age, you should be able to buy cannabis. But we know that cannabis is significantly less harmful than alcohol, so as more and more people become educated to that fact, there is a chance that we’ll see a push to drop the legal age down to 18.

But in the meantime, legal states are strictly 21 and over. So if you’re in that 18-21 range, soon Canada will be your vacation destination of choice.