High-risk retail identity verification
Document capture, liveness, face match, mDL, and jurisdictional age-tier resolution. Signed webhook returns an eligibility signal.
Capabilities
Age-21 verification for cannabis dispensaries operating in state-legal markets
Age-21 verification with optional medical-card capture
State-issued license or mDL captured in-session. Where the state runs a parallel medical-cannabis program (CA, FL, NY, NJ, others), Stile captures the medical-card image alongside the age document and returns it with the session payload — registry-side patient-record validation remains operator-side, since state OCM/DCC databases vary in their integration availability.
Liveness + face match
Same liveness model as the rest of the regulated-commerce family. Tuned for retail-walk-in flows where the dispensary kiosk or budtender handheld captures the credential. Sub-second result keeps the queue moving.
State purchase-limit signals
Per-state statutory purchase limits (e.g. 1oz flower / 8g concentrate in CA) are enforced by the dispensary's POS. Stile contributes the verified identity assertion downstream POS systems consume to enforce per-day, per-month limits across visits.
How a dispensary check-in flows
Configurable per state. The default is age-21 verification with optional medical-card image capture for states with parallel programs (registry-side validation is operator-side).
- Step 01
1. Check-in
Customer presents state-issued license or mDL at the dispensary kiosk or budtender handheld. The Stile SDK runs in the dispensary POS or a tablet workflow.
- Step 02
2. Capture + verify
OCR + barcode cross-reference for physical credentials; ISO/IEC 18013-5 signature verification for mDL. Selfie capture for liveness + face match. Medical-card image capture if the state has a medical-tier flow — the captured image is returned with the session for the dispensary's records; registry-side patient validation is operator-side.
- Step 03
3. Eligibility signal
Signed webhook returns 21+ eligibility, the issuing state, and an audit pointer. Dispensary unlocks the retail flow; if the state has a medical-tier program, the dispensary's POS layers its own registry check on top of the eligibility signal.
- Step 04
4. Purchase-limit cross-reference (optional)
For states with statutory daily/monthly purchase limits, the dispensary POS uses the verified identity assertion to cross-reference prior purchases. Stile contributes the assertion; the limit-tracking is POS-side.
Adult-use cannabis states and Stile coverage
States with active adult-use cannabis markets as of mid-2026. Min. age is 21 in every active market. The medical-card column reflects whether the state runs a parallel medical program with a separate eligibility tier.
| State | Adult-use start | Medical program | Stile baseline configuration |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 2018 | Yes (Prop 215, 1996) | License + liveness; medical card optional capture |
| Colorado | 2014 | Yes | License + liveness; medical card optional capture |
| Washington | 2014 | Yes | License + liveness |
| Oregon | 2015 | Yes | License + liveness |
| Massachusetts | 2018 | Yes | License + liveness; medical card optional capture |
| Illinois | 2020 | Yes | License + liveness; medical card optional capture |
| New Jersey | 2022 | Yes | License + liveness; medical card optional capture |
| New York | 2022 | Yes | License + liveness |
| Michigan | 2019 | Yes | License + liveness; medical card optional capture |
| Nevada | 2017 | Yes | License + liveness |
Cannabis retail sits at the intersection of strict age verification, medical-tier eligibility (in states with parallel programs), and statutory purchase-limit enforcement. Stile handles the verification step; downstream POS systems handle the limit-tracking. Related coverage:
Age verification — the underlying age-tier resolution flow.
Identity verification — full identity assertion case for downstream loyalty / patient-record systems.
Digital ID verification — mDL deep dive. CA, CO, NY, others issue wallet credentials accepted at dispensary check-in.
Regulated commerce — sibling verticals (gambling, alcohol DTC, age-restricted commerce).
FAQ
Cannabis retail verification — buyer questions
Stile resolves the credential's issuing jurisdiction and returns it as an attribute. Per-state purchase rules (whether a state restricts to in-state-issued credentials) are configurable in the per-state ruleset. Most states accept any US-issued credential at age-21 verification; CA, NY, and a few others have layered rules — confirm at integration.
Get started
Talk to compliance about your dispensary verification flow
Tell us which states you operate in, your POS stack, and whether you run delivery in addition to in-store. We'll send a configuration recommendation back same-week.
Bring age-21 + medical-tier verification to your dispensary
Email goes to alex@stile.id directly. Engineering and compliance are CC'd on the reply.
Email alex@stile.id