Glendale, CA Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

10 (Medical Marijuana Dispensaries) states flatly in Sec. 020(A) that a medical marijuana dispensary is prohibited in the city, defining 'dispensary' broadly to cover any association, business, storefront, cooperative or collective that delivers, dispenses, distributes, exchanges, transmits, transports or sells marijuana for any reason (Sec. 010). Subsection B extends the ban to marijuana cultivation, processing, and delivery or distribution of marijuana or medical cannabis products as prohibited activities citywide, and the definitions section separately states that cultivation for any purpose 'shall not be permitted in the city' regardless of any licensed-facility exception.

Subsection C closes the permitting door entirely: no use permit, variance, building permit, or any other entitlement, license or permit, administrative or discretionary, may be approved for a dispensary or the prohibited cultivation/processing/distribution activities, and no person may otherwise establish or conduct them, except to the extent the city is preempted by federal or state law from enacting or enforcing the prohibition. The chapter carves out limited exclusions from the definition of 'dispensary' for state-licensed clinics, healthcare facilities, hospice and home health agencies operating under specific Health and Safety Code chapters, so long as they comply strictly with the Compassionate Use Act framework and are not themselves distributing cannabis as a business.

Because the ordinance is framed as an outright zoning and permitting prohibition rather than a licensing scheme, Glendale has effectively opted out of authorizing commercial cannabis retail anywhere in the city, consistent with the local-control preserved for cities under the state's cannabis licensing statutes.