Bay Area pot laws are confusing - Here's what you need to know

Medical pot grower Steve Evans positions a marijuana plant in a greenhouse at his Santa Rosa, Calif., home on Monday, May 22, 2017. A Chronicle review finds 45 Bay Area cities and unincorporated county areas have banned personal pot gardens. less Medical pot grower Steve Evans positions a marijuana plant in a greenhouse at his Santa Rosa, Calif., home on Monday, May 22, 2017. A Chronicle review finds 45 Bay Area cities and unincorporated county areas ... more Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Bay Area pot laws are confusing - Here's what you need to know 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

California pot legalization initiative Proposition 64 allows all adults 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of cannabis buds, seven grams of extract, and grow six plants in their homes.

But are medical marijuana dispensaries open in your town? Is it OK to grow some plants in your outdoor garden? And when and where can we all go into legal pot shops?

The answers vary by city and county -- and 114 such cities and counties exist in the Bay Area alone. A Chronicle review has found a vast and often conflicting patchwork of cannabis laws blanketing the Bay Area, as well as the rest of California. It's become extremely challenging for average citizens to know what's legal in their city limits or on unincorporated county land.

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Reporting by freelance journalist Spencer Silva finds that of the 114 Bay Area cities and counties, only 15 have operational medical cannabis stores, called dispensaries. No Bay Area city or county has issued a local license to run a recreational pot shop. Recreational sales can legally begin Jan. 1, 2018. And 43 Bay Area cities or counties have banned the growing of a single recreational cannabis plant in your own back yard. Many more will in the near future.

Inspired by reader demand, the Chronicle's new cannabis web site www.GreenState.com has collected the pot laws for the 114 cities and counties in the Bay Area. Now, you can look up the law in your town at www.GreenState.com. Click on over to know the law where you live.