Walking into a cannabis dispensary for the first time can be pretty intimidating, especially if you’re unfamiliar with all of the industry terms. From trying to figure out why the person at the front desk took your driver’s license to racking your brain for unfamiliar terms like “eighth” or “zip,” that initial trip can be an overwhelming whirlwind, which is why this article should be your real first stop as a new cannabis consumer.
Consider this your cheat sheet when it comes to understanding cannabis retail. We’ll teach you about the quirky colloquialisms and show you how they’re still alive and utilized by budtenders making recommendations today, all so you can understand how to successfully order yourself some dank weed in 2024.
Measuring weed
Weighing weed is a bit of a mixed bag—unless you’re equally fluent in both the largely universal metric system and the imperial approach used in the United States. While the world debates the values and benefits of using imperial versus metric, cannabis decided to approach it uniquely by combining both, introducing global consumers to one of the most confusing measurement systems.
Although measurements of weed can be comically confounding, the industry is at least consistent in its chaotic approach. The eighth you buy in a Los Angeles dispensary will be the same eighth you buy at a Dispensary in Denver, and vice versa—at least when it comes to weight and size.
However, even if you’re familiar with the metric and imperial measurements, you’re still not quite out of the newbie woods yet. The cannabis community has developed nicknames for each measurement in question, leftover from the legacy days of operating discreetly and still popularly utilized today.
Being able to order cannabis products colloquially isn’t a requirement, but it’s certainly a flex.
| The Industry Term | The Ounce Meter | The Gram Meter |
| 1 eighth | ⅛ ounce | 3.5 grams |
| 1 quarter | ¼ ounce | 7 grams |
| 1 half | ½ ounce | 14 grams |
| 1 oz | 1 ounce | 28 grams |
| 1 pound | 16 ounces | 453 grams |
Common weed measurements & updated pricing for 2024
Before you take your next trip to one of your local dispensaries, let’s break each of those weed measurements down—by both systems, the slang terms, and how much it’ll cost you to walk out the door with ’em.
How much is a gram of weed?
There’s nothing like a gram of great weed strain.
Known as a “G” or “dime bag,” a single gram of cannabis is typically the smallest amount you can purchase at a time, and is a popular buy for brand-new consumers looking to try a little flower. Most often, you’ll find grams sold in pre-rolls and vape cartridges.
If we’re talking about rolling joints, a gram is about enough for one healthy-sized reefer stick. The average price for one usually sits anywhere between $10-$20, depending on the strain.
- Low end price: $10
- Top shelf price: $20
How much is an eighth of weed?
A common question among new consumers tends to be: What is an 8th of weed?
While terms like “gram” or “half-ounce” are pretty intuitive to understand, an “eighth” can sound alien to someone without cannabis experience. But when in doubt, trust your instincts. The term is short for “an eighth of an ounce,” which you might have guessed when weighing it against “half-ounce” or “quarter-ounce.”
Starting to get it?
While a gram is the perfect measure of weed for rolling joints, an eighth (or 3.5 grams) is enough for about 3-4 joints, depending on how fat you like to roll up.
- Low end price: $35
- Top shelf price: $65
How much is a quarter of weed?
A quarter of an ounce, 14 grams, or 20-ish rolled joints—all different ways you might find a quarter of a weed. Quarter-ounce pricing can vary greatly depending on the strain you’re working with or market you reside in. However, it’ll typically run you anywhere between $50-$100 at retail.
- Low end price: $50
- Top shelf price: $100
How much is a half of weed?
A “half” or “half-ounce” of weed is…well, a half of an ounce of weed.
Considered a decently large quantity, the “half-o” contains 14 grams of ganja, which is perfect for a regular consumer who likes to stock up for a few weeks or days—no judgment here—at a time. You can roll about 30 or so joints with a half-ounce of cannabis.
- Low end price: $100
- Top shelf price: $200
How much is an ounce of weed?
An ounce of weed contains 28 grams and is usually the highest amount you can purchase at one time as a consumer. Enough more than 60 rolled joints, purchasing an ounce is a great way to stock up and reduce your trips to the dispensary. It’s ideal if you’re buying some party favors for a larger group of people.
- Low end price: $200
- Top shelf price: $400
How much is a pound of weed?
Pound purchases are typically reserved for industry operators, as consumers aren’t allowed to buy over an ounce at a time. Containing 16 ounces of weed, this is a massive haul—enough for at least 460 joints. You’ll pay a grip, but end up with a hefty green brick.
- Low end price: $1,000
- Top shelf price: $3,000
Weed measuring slang
Now for the fun part. We’ve thrown a few slang terms your way thus far, but let’s dive a little deeper to ensure you have all of the tools you need to impress your local budtender with your vast legacy-era knowledge.
| Slang Term | Meaning |
| Dime bag | A gram of weed |
| Dub | $20 worth of weed (can also mean two grams) |
| Slice | An eighth of weed |
| Quad | A quarter of weed |
| Half-o or half-zip | A half-ounce of weed |
| Zip | One ounce of weed |
Do you get what you paid for?
This is a pretty important question, especially for new consumers trying to understand the value of high-quality cannabis.
With so many brands and strains on the market, it can be sort of difficult to know if you’re being taken advantage of when paying for weed. Everyone claims to be the best in the business, but how do you actually determine whether that’s true?
Thankfully, there are a few different methods for figuring this out. If you’re suspicious about the size of your eighth, all it takes is purchasing a little at-home scale to confirm whether or not your budtender rounded up a little too generously. But what if your eighth checks out weight-wise and you’re left wondering whether or not the strain itself is as “high-quality” as the dispensary claimed?
This is where plant compound knowledge comes in handy and helps you understand how to pick out exemplary products without having to ask a budtender. Familiarizing yourself with the profiles of cannabinoids, terpenes, and trichomes—and how they should present themselves in quality flower—will enable you to select the best products for your needs, eliminating that risk of wasting your time and money on some absolute bunk. Take notes to help remember which strains you liked and which ones you’d want to steer clear of next time.
Common questions about weed amounts
How many grams in a half ounce?
A half ounce contains 14 grams of cannabis.
How much weed is a quarter?
A quarter of weed costs about $75.
How many grams in a quarter ounce of weed?
There are 7 grams in a quarter ounce of weed.
