Cannabis Regulations in Merced, CA (2026)
2 verified cannabis regulations for Merced, California, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Dispensary Zoning
Merced caps the number of cannabis dispensaries citywide at five, requires a commercial cannabis business permit, and confines dispensaries to commercial and limited industrial zones while banning them from the City Center core under Municipal Code Section 20.44.170.
Merced Cannabis Dispensary Cap and Zoning Rules
Significant RestrictionsMerced, CA, Municipal Code Sec. 20.44.170(A), Table 20.44-1, Footnotes 1-2
A.Zoning Compliance and Commercial Cannabis Business Permit Requirements. Specific commercial cannabis businesses are allowed as a special use in the C-C, C-O, C-G, C-N, C-T, B-P, I-L, and I-H Zoning Districts and Planned Developments which have the equivalent General Plan land use designations of those zones. Commercial cannabis activities are expressly prohibited in all other zones in the Cit...
Buffer Zones
Merced bars cannabis dispensaries within 1,000 feet of any school and within 600 feet of a day care center, youth center, library, or public park. Cultivation, manufacturing, and testing facilities face the same 600-foot buffer. Only five dispensary permits may operate citywide, and none may sit in the downtown City Center corridor.
Merced Cannabis Business Buffer Zones
Significant RestrictionsMerced, CA, Municipal Code Table 20.44-1, Note [5] to Sec. 20.44.170
No cannabis dispensary may be located within a one thousand-foot radius from a school or within a six hundred-foot radius from a day care center, youth center, library or public park that is in existence at the time the application for a commercial cannabis business permit is submitted to the city, as required in Merced Municipal Code Section 20.44.170(E)(3)(f). No cultivation facility, manufac...
Looking for Merced County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Merced city rules.
Cannabis Regulations in Merced County →