Gram, eighth, quarter, ounce — sometimes it seems like there are as many ways to weigh weed as there are to smoke it. Add in slang terms like dime bag and weed measurements can get very complicated very quickly.
Keep reading for a quick breakdown of the most common weed measurements, weed weight slang terms, and where to go for further reading.
Find an eighth in an eighth of the time it takes to read this article
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Breakdown of weed measurements
Let's start with the smallest unit of measurement and work our way up.
Gram
A gram is a metric unit of mass equal to one-thousandth of a kilogram. A gram is a small unit of measurement, which makes it a solid choice for cannabis consumers who want to purchase weed in small amounts. For example, if they're looking to try a new strain or don't consume cannabis frequently.
The rest of the units of measurement for cannabis have to do with ounces — either in full or in fractions.
Eighth
An eighth is an eighth of an ounce, or 3 .5 grams of weed. The eighth is one of the most popular weed quantities. For many people, an eighth of weed is the perfect amount; it's enough to feel like you have plenty of weed at your disposal, but not so much that you feel like you have to rush and consume it before it ages.
Photo by: Gina Coleman/Weedmaps
Quarter
The next unit of measurement is a quarter of weed. A quarter of weed refers to a quarter of an ounce, and it weighs approximately 7 grams. Technically, a quarter of weed weighs 7.0874 grams, but the industry standard is to round down to the nearest gram.
Photo by: Gina Coleman/Weedmaps
Half
A half is a shorthand term for a half-ounce of weed, which weighs 14 grams.
Ounce
One ounce of weed should technically contain 28.3 grams, but for the sake of simplicity, most round down to 28 grams. When buying weed at a dispensary, a full ounce is also typically the largest amount you can buy at a time due to possession laws. But people who work within the cannabis industry, such as buyers and dispensary owners, can buy in larger quantities — including pounds and kilograms.
Pound
A pound of cannabis is one of the rarest weed quantities and is largely only seen by growers and dispensary owners. A pound contains 16 ounces of weed, which can also be thought of as 16 times the largest amount one person can buy at a time. In terms of scale, it's likely enough weed to last the average smoker a year.
Here's a quick reference chart of how weed is measured and each weed measurement's equivalent in grams:
- 1 eighth = ⅛-ounce = 3.5 grams
- 1 quarter = ¼-ounce = 7 grams
- 1 half = ½-ounce = 14 grams
- 1 ounce = 28 grams
- 1 pound = 453 grams*
*You might be wondering, if there are 16 ounces in a pound and 28 grams in an ounce, wouldn't there be 448 grams in a pound? This discrepancy has to do with the fact that the gram is a metric unit and the pound is an imperial unit of measurement commonly used in the US.
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Slang terms for weed measurements
A dime bag is a slang term for a small plastic bag of weed. A dime is code for $10 worth of weed, typically about 1 gram. Sometimes it is spelled as one word: dimebag. Among weed measurements, the dime bag is becoming increasingly rare as a result of more cannabis coming pre-packaged in eighths.
A dub, or dub sack, is 2 grams of weed. It may also refer to $20 worth of weed, which makes sense in the world of weed slang since 2 grams of weed would cost twice as much as a dime bag.
A slice is another way of identifying an eighth of weed, or 3.5 grams.
A zip of weed is an ounce of weed, or roughly 28 grams. The origin of this slang term reportedly has to do with an ounce of weed fitting nicely in a Ziploc bag, but others say the zip comes from the abbreviation for an ounce, oz.
How to make sure you're getting what you pay for
Whether you're at the dispensary looking to get a single gram to test out a new strain or investing in a full ounce of your go-to, you'll want to make sure you're getting what you pay for. And the only way to know for sure that your cannabis is the proper weight is to weigh it with a scale.
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If you're buying flower from a bulk bin, the budtender should weigh your cannabis in clear view. If you get to the dispensary and can't remember the gram conversions, just ask your budtender; they will be able to tell you how many grams are in an eighth, quarter, half, or ounce and then weigh out the weed to show you that the cannabis you're taking home is the amount you paid for.
In some states with adult-use cannabis laws, flower is required to come pre-packaged so it was measured prior to arriving at the dispensary. If you still want to ensure that it's the weight indicated on the package, you can weigh the flower with a scale at home.
Further reading
Want to learn more about common weed measurements and how they compare to other weed weights? Check out these articles:
How many grams are in an ounce of weed?
How many grams are in a quarter of weed?