Is it illegal to have an open container of alcohol or cannabis in a car in California?

Yes, in almost every ordinary situation, for both alcohol and cannabis, and it applies to passengers as well as the driver. California does not have just one open-container law; it has several overlapping rules, and only a few specific situations, such as keeping the container in the trunk or, for alcohol, riding as a passenger in a licensed limousine, change the answer.

Drinking or using cannabis while the car is being driven

Separate from any container rule, neither the driver nor a passenger may drink an alcoholic beverage or smoke or ingest marijuana or a marijuana product while the vehicle is being driven on a highway (Vehicle Code section 23221). This is an infraction, and it does not matter whether anything is stored anywhere else in the car; consuming while the car is being driven is its own violation.

Open alcohol containers: on you or in your possession

California also bans having an open alcohol container in the car, whether or not anyone is drinking from it. The driver may not have an open, seal-broken, or partly emptied alcohol container on their person while driving (Vehicle Code section 23222(a)), and a second, broader rule bars the driver and every passenger from having that kind of container in their possession while in a vehicle on a highway (Vehicle Code section 23223). It does not matter which seat you are in.

Cannabis: the driver rule, its two exceptions, and passengers

For cannabis, the Vehicle Code makes it an infraction, with a fine of up to $100, for the driver to have an open or seal-broken container of cannabis, or loose cannabis flower not in a container, on their person while driving (Vehicle Code section 23222(b)). That rule has two written exceptions. It does not apply if the open container or loose flower is in the trunk. And it does not apply to a qualified patient or a person with a medical cannabis identification card who is carrying a current identification card or a physician’s recommendation, if the cannabis is in a container that is sealed, resealed, or closed (Vehicle Code section 23222(c)). The medical exception does not apply simply because someone says they use cannabis medically; both of its conditions have to be met.

A separate law reaches passengers too. California’s adult-use cannabis law does not allow anyone to possess an open container or open package of cannabis while driving, operating, or riding in the passenger seat or compartment of a vehicle (Health and Safety Code section 11362.3(a)(4)), and doing so is an infraction punishable by a fine of up to $250 (Health and Safety Code section 11362.4(b)). Practically, the safest course is to keep cannabis sealed and in the trunk.

Storing a container is a separate rule for owners and drivers

Beyond possession, California has a distinct storage offense aimed at the registered owner of the vehicle, and at the driver when the owner is not present. Under this rule, an open alcohol container may not be kept in the vehicle unless it is kept in the trunk (Vehicle Code section 23225). If the vehicle has no trunk, the law allows a substitute: an area not normally occupied by the driver or passengers, though a glove compartment or utility compartment does not count, or, for certain off-highway vehicles, a locked container. So an open beer in a cup holder can break more than one rule at once: whoever has it in their possession violates section 23223, and the owner, or the driver if the owner is absent, violates the storage rule. This storage rule does not apply to the living quarters of a housecar or camper, so an RV’s driving compartment is covered, but its separate living area is not.

The real exceptions: RVs, campers, buses, taxis, and limousines

A few situations genuinely change the answer for alcohol. Passengers, but not the driver, in a bus, taxicab, or limousine for hire licensed to carry passengers, passengers in the living quarters of a housecar or camper, and passengers in a pedicab are exempt from the ban on drinking alcohol while riding and from the open-alcohol-container ban (Vehicle Code section 23229(a)). This exemption covers alcohol only; it does not allow smoking or ingesting cannabis. The driver or owner of a licensed bus, taxicab, limousine for hire, or pedicab is separately exempt from the trunk-storage rule (section 23229(b)), except that a charter-party driver carrying any passenger under 21 without meeting Public Utilities Code requirements is subject to the open-container and storage rules (Vehicle Code section 23229.1). None of these exceptions extend to the driver of a private car.

This is not the same question as a DUI charge

An open-container citation and a DUI charge are different things. A violation of these open-alcohol rules is generally an infraction (Vehicle Code section 40000.1). Having an open container, or being cited for one, does not by itself prove impairment, and keeping every container properly stored does not disprove it either. If you are also facing a drug DUI allegation connected to the same stop, that is a separate charge with its own evidence and standards.

If you were cited under any of these sections, or an open-container issue came up during a DUI stop, the Law Offices of David S. Chesley can look at what actually happened and which rule, if any, applies. Reach the firm at (800) 755-5174.