While the legal cannabis industry may be a new market in our economy, the purchasing of weed has been going on for decades. Due to the large popularity of cannabis before legalization, many users are already familiar with the way cannabis is sold and purchased.
So much so that knowing the quantities of cannabis is second nature. However, there is an increasing market for first-time weed users who may not understand the measurements used for cannabis and the lingo that comes along with it.
The eighth is one of the most commonly sold quantities of weed in the United States. For those new cannabis users out there, you may be wondering:
“How much weed is in an eighth?”
Measurements of Cannabis
The gram is your base unit of measurement when it comes to buying cannabis. A single gram is enough for 2-3 joints (depending on how you roll) or about one blunt.
How much is a gram of weed?
A gram is the smallest weight of cannabis flower you can buy and it does not weigh much of anything. To put this into context, a gram is one twenty-eighth of an ounce (1/28). One gram is comparable to the size of a bottle cap.
How many grams are in an eighth of weed?
An eighth refers to ⅛ of an ounce of cannabis. Technically, an eighth of an ounce weighs 3.5436904 grams, but dispensaries and caregivers often round down to 3.5 grams. This makes for easier measurements.
Cannabis retailers often sell flower in 3.5-gram intervals. For example:
- A quarter is typically sold as 7 grams.
- A half-ounce is sold as 14 grams.
- An ounce typically weighs 28 grams.
How much does an eighth cost?
Among legal cannabis retailers, an average cost for an eighth is between $30 and $40. In some areas, you may find an eighth to cost as little as $25 or as high as $65. The price of an eighth depends on many factors:
- Cannabis Quality: Strains with a higher potency will often come at a higher price. It is common for a high-THC strain to cost more than an average or low-THC product. Variables involving how it was grown such as using organic practices may also increase the price.
- Taxes and Overhead: Dispensaries are slapped with tons of taxes. Cannabis is not federally legalized and yet these businesses are still subject to taxation and operational costs which include facilities, utilities, payroll, administrative costs, and more. The overall cost of living in your area may also cause the cost of weed to be higher or lower than the average.
- Supply and Demand: Demand for weed grows higher by the year as more and more people try the herb for the first time. Like any other business, the cannabis industry is subject to standard economic principles in regard to supply fluctuation. If local growers’ crops suffer from unforeseen circumstances such as poor weather or pests, the lack of supply can drive prices higher. With advances in growing technology, the cannabis industry should hopefully become less volatile than in the days of old.
What are 5 gram eighths?
So if an eighth of an ounce weighs approximately 3.5 grams, what is a “5-gram eighth?” Perhaps you have heard this before and have been confused. A 5 gram eighth refers to 5 grams of weed that is sold at the usual price of an eighth. This is often advertised as a promotional deal and is a mechanism to stand out from other cannabis retailers.
Common retail weights
Cannabis is usually purchased by the gram, eighth, quarter, half-ounce, or ounce. Similar to the black market, if a consumer purchases a larger weight then there is typically a price discount. Each state or country has specific restrictions on how much cannabis an individual may possess or even how much they can purchase per month. The legal limits in most states and countries are declared in grams and ounces.
- A quarter of weed weighs in at 7 grams.
- A half-ounce equates to 14 grams. This quantity is also called a “half” or “half O.”
- An ounce weighs in at 28 grams. An ounce is commonly referred to as a “zip” or an “O.”
- A quarter-pound is 113.4 grams, which also equals 4 ounces. Quarter-pounds are often called “QP” for short. In most states and countries, a quarter-pound of weed exceeds the legal possession limit.
- A half-pound weighs in at 226.8 grams or 8 ounces. This amount of cannabis is also known as “half-pack” and “half-pounder.”
- One pound is equivalent to 453 grams or 16 ounces. A pound is way more weed than any single person needs at one time. Nicknames for a pound are “a pack” or “an elbow.”
How do people around the world weigh weed?
Every country except Burma, Liberia, and the United States uses the metric system. With different units of measurements around the world, one might think that other countries would have different systems to weigh their weed.
However, in the cannabis game, most other countries have adopted using the metric system. Therefore, cannabis is often measured by grams no matter where you are.
How long does an eighth last?
After learning how much an eighth of weed is, your next question might be just how long that amount can last for the average smoker. There are several factors to this equation including the method in which you typically consume cannabis; whether it be smoking a bowl, bong, joint, blunt, etc. How often you smoke weed obviously has a lot to do with it as well.
A glass bowl can hold roughly between 0.25 gram and 1 gram, depending on its size. If you have an average-sized bowl, you can assume it holds roughly half a gram of weed. This means you will be able to smoke about 7 bowls when you purchase an eighth. If you smoke one bowl or less per day, an eighth could last you about a week.
Joints typically contain between 0.5 and 1 gram of cannabis, so you can expect to get 3-5 joints out of an eighth. Blunts are often filled with over a gram of weed, so you may only be able to roll 2-3 blunts using an eighth of cannabis.
Using these numbers, other common quantities of weed will often yield:
- 1 gram: about 2-3 bowls, 1-2 joints, or 1 small blunt.
- A quarter (7 grams): about 14 bowls, 6-10 joints, or 4-6 normal-sized blunts
- A half (14 grams): about 28 bowls, 12-20 joints, 8-12 blunts
- An ounce (28 grams): about 56 bowls, 24-40 joints, 16-24 blunts
