How Did It Start
In 1996, Proposition 215 made California the first U.S. state to legalize medical cannabis. Voters approved adult use through Proposition 64 in 2016. A year later, lawmakers merged the medical and adult-use rules into one law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA). Since 2021, a single agency, the Department of Cannabis Control, has regulated the entire market. January 1, 2018, was the first day of licensed recreational sales in the Golden State.
Where It’s At
In September 2026, California sold over $329 million worth of cannabis. California ranks #1 among U.S. states for total cannabis sales YTD in Hoodie’s data; Los Angeles, as a single city, ranks #4.
California’s legal market has leveled off. Through September, sales were roughly flat with last year (+1%), and every month landed within about three points of 2025. Other mature markets slipped: Michigan and Colorado each fell 4.8% while California’s lead over #2 Michigan widened from 26% to 34%.
Los Angeles County
In order to provide the most robust accounting of what’s happening in “LA” it is necessary to examine the broader county the famous city sits within. Los Angeles County holds 88 cities, and fewer than a third of them have a dispensary storefront. The green shading in the image below highlights LA city limits.
Last 90 Days In LA County
LA County sold $241.8 million worth of cannabis from July through September, about $2.6 million a day, or roughly $1,800 every minute. Flower and vapes split the market almost evenly and together took about 61% of every dollar. The eighth was still the go-to flower buy, disposables led vapes, and every major product category got less expensive than a year earlier. LA County is still a local’s market. Operators based only in California rang up about three of every four dollars, while multi-state operators ran a smaller share of stores but brought in more per location. That gap grew this summer. Sales at multi-state stores rose about 5% from a year earlier, while local operators slipped about 3%.
Sales Velocity + Distribution
Total sales show who is big. Velocity shows who is winning on the shelf. Hoodie measures it with three numbers: how many of the busy stores carry a brand, how much of the spending it catches once it’s there, and how hard each product works.
Top 25 Flower Brands In LA County
Flower is LA County’s most crowded shelf. Roughly 860 brands sold flower this year, and no single brand comes close to owning the category. The top three together take less than a fifth of the dollars spent. That spread shapes the chart below. Instead of a few names dominating, flower brands are scattered across the board, and plenty of them sell fast without being in every store. The eighth drives the category, bringing in more than two of every five flower dollars, but larger sizes carry real weight too, which rewards brands that perform well across the menu.
Top 25 Vape Brands in LA County
Vapes run on a different model. The category is the same size as flower in LA County, but about 520 brands compete, and the top three take around 40% of the dollars. Vapes are also on the rise: while flower sales slipped from last year, vape sales grew. Disposables lead the format mix, and distillate still makes up nearly two of every three vape dollars. The top three vapes brands are stocked nearly everywhere and selling fastest, but behind them is a tight pack of challengers close enough in speed that small gains in reach can shuffle the order.
Thirty years after Prop 215, California still sells more cannabis than any other state, and Los Angeles County remains its center of gravity. The rules have changed, prices keep falling, and most cities still say no, yet the county sells nearly $2.5 million worth of legal cannabis every day.
Behind each of the dots on these charts are people. Growers and trimmers, extractors and packagers, drivers, buyers, budtenders and sales reps, all working to get a product from the field into a customer’s hands. Some of these brands are household names. Others are still building one store at a time. Each of them is a part of how Los Angeles shops for cannabis today.
