Your first dispensary visit in Maryland, explained.

Who can shop at a Maryland dispensary?

• Recreational customers 21 and older with a valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID. No card or registration is needed, and out-of-state IDs are accepted.
• Registered medical patients with an active Maryland Cannabis Administration registration. Patients under 18 obtain medical cannabis only through a registered caregiver.
• Out-of-state visitors shop the recreational menu. Maryland doesn't accept medical cards from other states.

Recreational sales began on July 1, 2023, after voters approved legalization in November 2022. For the full rules, see Maryland cannabis laws.

What to bring

• A valid, unexpired photo ID — a driver's license or state ID from any state, a passport or passport card, a military ID or a tribal ID. Photocopies and photos of an ID aren't accepted.
• A way to pay — cash, debit or Aeropay.
• Medical patients: your active MCA registration.
• Optional: a rough idea of what you'd like — the kind of experience you're after, how comfortable you are with dose, and whether you'd prefer flower, vapes, edibles or something else. If you're not sure, that's what your budtender is for.

How a visit to Bloom Germantown works

1. Check in. Show your ID at the recreational walk-in window, or your registration if you're a medical patient. Maryland law requires every customer to be verified.
2. Browse. Look over the menu in store, or browse the live Germantown menu before you come in.
3. Talk to a budtender. They'll explain products, read lab results with you and suggest options for what you're after. There's no pressure to buy anything.
4. Pay. Your products are packaged in child-resistant packaging, as Maryland requires.
5. Head home. Most visits take 10 to 20 minutes. If you order ahead, pickup usually takes about 15.

What's on the menu

• Flower and pre-rolls — dried cannabis flower and ready-rolled joints. A common place to start. See the best flower in Maryland.
• Edibles — gummies, chocolates and drinks. They take longer to kick in than smoking, often 30 minutes to two hours, and last longer. See the best edibles in Maryland.
• Vapes and concentrates — cartridges, disposables and concentrates like live resin and rosin, generally stronger than flower. See the best vapes and best concentrates.
• Tinctures and topicals — liquid extracts taken by mouth, and lotions and balms applied to the skin.

What should beginners buy?

Something low-dose, easy to use and easy to stop. A few good first picks:

• A low-dose edible. No smoking needed and easy to measure. Start small, and give it at least two hours before taking more.
• A single pre-roll. A familiar format and a set amount, and you can stop whenever you like.
• Milder flower. Ask your budtender for something at the lower end of the THC range, or a balanced THC:CBD option.

We'd save high-potency concentrates and large multi-serving edibles for later visits. Indica, sativa and hybrid labels are a useful starting point, but the same label can feel different from product to product, so ask your budtender.

Payment and tax

Bloom Germantown takes cash, debit and Aeropay. Because cannabis is still illegal under federal law, credit cards aren't accepted. Recreational purchases include Maryland's 12% cannabis sales tax, in effect since July 1, 2025. Registered medical patients don't pay it — one reason regular customers look into a Maryland medical card.

Getting home

Keep your purchases sealed in their original packaging, in the trunk or a locked glove compartment. Maryland doesn't allow using cannabis in a vehicle — a driver can't smoke or consume it and passengers can't smoke it, even when parked — and driving impaired is illegal. Cannabis bought in Maryland must stay in Maryland, and it can only be used on private property. See Maryland's cannabis DUI laws.

Visiting Bloom Germantown

Bloom Germantown is at 11530 Middlebrook Road in Middlebrook Square, open 8 AM to 10 PM every day, serving Germantown, Boyds, Clarksburg, Gaithersburg, Montgomery Village and Rockville.

• Order ahead. Build your order on the Germantown menu and pick it up in store. Here's how it works. Bloom doesn't deliver.
• Free parking in the Middlebrook Square lot.
• Join Bloom Rewards to earn points on every purchase. See how rewards work.

Legal notice. This guide is for general information, not legal advice. Maryland's cannabis laws can change at any time. Check current rules with the Maryland Cannabis Administration or ask a qualified attorney. Bloom Germantown only sells products from growers and processors licensed by the state of Maryland.