If you’re new to cannabis, you may have some questions about how to measure weed, both in weight and in cost.
How much is a dime? What about a nick? Is a gram of cannabis enough? Is an ounce of pot too much? Can I buy weed by the pound?
If these are some of the questions you have, you may want to take a moment to brush up on your elementary math. Or you can just read this weed measurement guide to figure out how to order cannabis flower from a dispensary near you.
How Much is a Gram of Weed?
A gram of weed might be the best quantity for you if you’re brand new to cannabis flower or interested in using just a small amount on the rare occasion. At most dispensaries, a gram is the smallest quantity of flower you can get. A gram of pot is about enough to fill one to two joints, depending on how fat you want your roll.
On the other hand, a gram is usually the only quantity of concentrate you can get. Because of their extremely high potency, most concentrates are packaged to contain between .5 and one gram of extract. A gram of concentrate will last you between 15 and 20 dabs.
Slang for Weed in Grams: Dime, Dub, Nick
Unregulated cannabis operators often use coded language to discreetly discuss cannabis quantities and pricing. For people who’ve been using weed for a long time, that language is just part of cannabis culture. The most common weed measurement terms you’re likely to hear from people purchasing or selling unregulated cannabis flower by the gram are dime, dub, and nick.
A dime is weed slang for about $10 worth of weed. The amount of pot contained in a dime bag can vary, but it will usually fall in the range of .5 gram to 1 gram of weed.
If someone asks for a dub, that usually means they’re willing to pay for about $20 worth of weed. Again, quantity is not always consistent. Dealers usually put 1 gram to 1.5 grams of weed in a dub sack.
Short for nickel, a nick is usually worth about $5 of weed. This can translate to roughly half of what you’d get from a dime bag, or about ¼ gram of weed.
Weed by the Ounce
Purchasing cannabis by the gram on a frequent basis can get costly and inconvenient, so most regular cannabis users measure weed by the ounce. Dispensaries typically sell cannabis flower in the following quantities:
- an eighth of an ounce
- a quarter ounce
- a half ounce
- one ounce
How Much is an Eighth?
An eighth of weed is about 3.5 grams of flower. You can expect an eighth to make you up to 7 small joints. If you purchase your eighth from a regulated cannabis store, expect to pay anywhere from $35 to $70 for that amount depending on the quality.
Slang for an eighth of weed is pretty diverse. Common slang names include a half quarter, an eify, a cut, or a slice.
How Much is a Quarter Ounce of Weed?
A quarter ounce of weed can cover about half of a dollar bill. There are 7 grams of weed in a quarter ounce. That’s enough cannabis to make up to 14 small joints. A quarter ounce of legal weed can cost you anything from $80 to $150 depending on the cannabis quality.
A quad is a common slang for a quarter ounce of weed, but because of how regional cannabis language is, you might hear another term for it. As long as you know what you want and what you’re willing to pay for it, you should be able to get what you need.
How Much is a Half Ounce?
A half ounce of weed is enough to completely cover a dollar bill. There are approximately 14 grams in a half ounce of weed, enough pot to make up to 28 joints. You can expect to pay up to $250 for a half.
How Much is an Ounce?
An ounce of weed, sometimes referred to as a zip by unregulated cannabis dealers and veteran cannabis smokers, is probably the maximum amount of pot you can purchase from a dispensary at a time. You can expect to pay up to $600 for a zip.
An ounce is about 28 grams, enough weed to fill up to 56 joints. Whether or not that’s a lot of pot depends on you. If you smoke a joint a day, an ounce of cannabis can last you almost two months. On the other hand, if you smoke up to 3 joints a day, you’ll need to restock your weed stash in about two and a half weeks.
3 Weed Measurement Facts to Keep in Mind
Here are three important things about weed measurements you need to know:
- Legal weed is more expensive than black-market pot.
- The price of unregulated weed is not as reliable to predict as the cost of legal weed.
- There are legal limits to the amount of pot you can purchase from a store at a time.
Regulated weed tends to be more costly than black-market cannabis. For example, a dime bag will probably cost you about $10 while a gram of weed purchased at a dispensary might cost $15. But that increased price covers the expenses of lab testing, state licensing, and regulatory compliance, elements of the cannabis industry that make your cannabis safer to consume—both for health and legal reasons.
It’s also important to be aware of your state’s legal possession limit. In most states, there is a limit to the amount of cannabis you can purchase at a time. Most often, that limit is 1 oz. Medical marijuana patients may have a higher maximum.
Budtenders aren’t going to let you purchase more than the maximum legal limit, but you should also be aware of how much pot you have on you while in public. If you’re stopped by law enforcement and found to have more cannabis on you than the legal limit allows, you may have to pay a pricey fine or even spend time jail time for that possession violation.