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We have focused a lot on helping you to decide on what kinds of weed to choose, why cannabis can benefit you and even when taking it can lead to the best results. Something we don’t spend enough time discussing has to do with how much weed is ideal. Quantity can sometimes mean as much as quality – the amount of cannabis you get for a certain price might mean it’s a good/bad deal, or how much you need to consume to get desired results might hint at superior/inferior buds.
When it comes to dosing cannabis, we often make our decisions based on potency, followed by price, then characteristics of our cannabis. Whether you score a good deal on some potent weed that is delicious and smells good, it pays dividends to understand the different sizes of weed.
Do you know how weed is sold? What’s better: buying weed by size? Or by price? Determining the best deals, figuring out quality and making a purchase decision require you to weigh different weed selling sizes – literally and figuratively. Let’s look at the most common weed portion sizes and discuss the merits of each so that you can not only the best quality cannabis for your needs, but the right amount of it too.
How Is Weed Sold? What Are Weed Portion Sizes?
Before we talk about all the fun stuff like dimebags, nug sizes or other kinds of weed portion sizes we need to further define the metrics used for measuring cannabis. When it comes to picking weed by size, there are two main marijuana metrics: Grams and Ounces.
Grams
Grams are the standard for almost all cannabis products. Buds have been measured in grams since the first dimebags were sold back in the 1950’s, during the apocryphal ‘Reefer Madness’ era. Milligrams, grams and kilograms make the most sense for weed selling sizes because they accurately measure the amount of dried cannabis flowers in any given product. Sure, milliliters and ounces can also offer mass & volume metrics, but grams is a lot easier for most consumers to wrap their heads around.
For the purposes of determining how weed is sold, we’ll assume that exchanging cannabis from a solid state to a liquid will use a 1:1 ratio. This means that we’re assuming equal values of 1 milligram (mg) to 1 milliliter (ml). The exchange ratios from solid to liquid/gas is not exact, but for the most part these kinds of quick calculations are good enough.
Ounces
Ounces used to be the most popular method for how weed is sold/measured – and it still is in certain cities, states, provinces or countries. However, today grams and other metric weed selling sizes have become the norm in place of the antiquated ounces, eighth’s and dimebags. That being said, you might come across ‘oz’ of weed from time to time. Ounces were the norm for decades because weed was sold in dingy back-alleys, shadowy corners of bars and in other hidden places at major population centers. Cannabis didn’t have to be so accurately measured because it was so strictly restricted – a “bag full” or “an eighth” was what you got, and you just had to hope your dealer didn’t rip you off.
Potency Per Unit(s)
One last weed portion size factor we need to consider has to do with potency of cannabinoids and/or terpenes and how they’re listed per dosage or per unit. In the case of cannabis flowers, cannabinoids potency is measured in percentages or milligrams per grams of cannabis. For example, a package of buds might show ‘20% THC, 2% CBD’ or show it as ‘200 mg THC, 20 mg CBD’ for the total of the cannabis flower (5 grams).
This example offers “Total Cannabinoids” whereas some might prefer a more accurate dosing factor of “Available Cannabinoids”. We just talked about this in one of our recent blogs about How to Read & Understand Cannabis Product Labels, so check it out for more of a detailed breakdown on cannabis potencies.
What we wanted to discuss for the purposes of this article has more to do with potency with regards to each individual unit of weed measurements. If you’ve got 5 grams of cannabis and 200 mg of THC total, then each gram of cannabis consumed should contain 40 mg of THC, right? In theory yes, but not every bud is grown with exactly equal cannabinoids contents. So, dosing with cannabis on a “per unit” basis isn’t very accurate and should be avoided when the product you’re consuming can’t be evenly divided up.
For edibles or concentrates – gummies, candies, capsules, gelcaps, even oil syringes – that are arranged into individual units, you can certainly dose with more certainty. Each capsule might contain 5 mg of THC, or every 1 ml of oil can measure in at 15 mg of CBD. Potency per unit only makes sense when the total cannabinoids/available active compounds are delivered in what’s called “discreet amounts” as capsules, candies, or pre-measured doses.
Now that we’ve covered the usual suspects for how weed is sold in terms of potency, let’s list off some of the most popular price ranges and their relations to different sizes of weed.
Different Sizes of Weed
$2-14 grams
Let’s start with the most common and most popular weed portion sizes – dollars per gram. Whether you’re shopping for the cheapest $2 gram buds, or some top-shelf, $14 5-star grams of superior nugs, cannabis flowers offer some of the best variability of pricing & sizing.
Dollars per gram weed selling sizes are easy to appease both your budget and your appetite for cannabis, which is why the majority of customers shop by this category online in Canada. Something to keep in mind for this particular weed by price instead of weed by size metric: the price of the cannabis doesn’t always reflect its quality. Sometimes $6 grams of cannabis flowers are just as immaculately crafted as some AAAA+ buds, even if the prices should be vastly different. On the flip side, pricier grams of weed are sometimes due to popularity/scarcity and not representative of their quality (or lack thereof).
5-10 x 1-2 gram Pre-Rolls
Pre-rolled joints, blunts and cannagars are next in line for some of the most popular ways that weed is sold today. The majority of pre-rolls are 1 gram in total weed, but some come in 1.5 grams and even 2-5 gram blunt forms. Like with dollars per grams, prices for the different sizes of weed pre-rolls will depend on the genetics, how its grown/harvested, the potency factors and current market conditions like supply vs demand.
30 ml | 25-500+ mg THC/CBD
Cannabis oils, vape cartridges and other liquid-based weed selling sizes are one of the most versatile weed portion sizes. With massive ranges in doses as low as 25 mg all the way up to 500 or even the 1000’s, liquid cannabis products offer the most customization for your cannabis experiences. Cannabis concentrates usually come in 30 ml or 60 ml bottles, so how these kinds of weed are sold by size doesn’t change much – it’s the concentrations of cannabinoids or terpenes that can fluctuate depending on your needs.
There are also other delivery types for cannabis liquids called Syringes – like a CBD Distillate. These are basically the same application devices as comes with cannabis oils and concentrates, just without the bottle.
10-25 gram Cans/Tins
Sometimes instead of a dimebag, eighth or other kind of weed quantity we’re used to, buds are contained within collectible tins, cans or unique packaging & containers. These kinds of canna cans come in a range of sizes, typically 2 grams, 5 grams, 10 grams or 20+ grams of premium quality buds. Other kinds of reusable tins contain extracts, shatter, resins or edibles, so the range of types of canna cans is diverse. As you can imagine with these kinds of collectible packages, the pricing can be higher than normal.
Packs of Gummies/Candies/Lozenges
Cannabis edibles are among the most randomly different sizes of weed that your money can buy. Whether you like gummy candies, chocolates, lozenges, beverages or weed-infused snacks, edibles have the most diversity in how they are sold. Edibles come in packs of 5, 10, 50 or 100’s, they can be as small as a square of chocolate or as large as a giant gummy bear.
Edibles might be the most multifaceted ways to sell weed by size, but they’re also the most inconsistent. A lot of stoners find it frustrating to find similar sizes, potency or combination of flavors from one brand to another. Variety is the spice of life, but some folks enjoy things being the same across the board – especially when we’re talking about somebody’s medicine.
30-60 Capsules/Gelcaps
Cannabis capsules can be organized into six distinct categories, some of which overlap: THC capsules vs CBD capsules, isolate vs full-spectrum, and veggie cap vs gelcap. These categories are self-explanatory, but what sets them apart isn’t actually price vs quality – these are all offered simply as options for people who prefer one over the other.
Wholesale/Bulk
Wholesale cannabis is the ultimate way to buy weed by size because the way bulk weed is sold is completely customizable. Whether you want to buy buds by the pound, shatter by the armful or entire flats of edibles, wholesale cannabis offers both the biggest sizes at the lowest possible prices.
Something to keep in mind for wholesale weed: sometimes dispensaries and online stores offer discounts on bulk products that are close to expiry or inferior quality/defective. This isn’t to suggest that all wholesale cannabis is poor quality, but it is common for a producer to offer massive deals on huge cannabis quantities in order to get rid of a certain batch. Just be cognizant of this fact when you’re shopping for bulk weed.
