What is a Dime Bag? – Cannabis 101

You might not be familiar with a dime bag of weed, but this weed vernacular used to be as popular as gram, keys, and other modern weed slang used today. 

Let’s be honest. Weed slang and weed vocabulary are all over the place. From strain names such as God’s Green Crack to cannabis concentrates like live resin, there’s no shortage of weird and wacky names to call bud and its derivatives. 

Amongst the many we currently use, none are more historic or storied as the mythical dime bag. 

Now that cannabis is nationwide, people are starting to forget the long decades of prohibition that cannabis activists had to fight for Canadians. As well as, tokers worldwide to enjoy their weed legally. 

To know the dime bag is to have acknowledged the long road that cannabis activism has travelled and the future it holds in Canadian history. 

To some, it may not seem like that big of a deal. However, we think the history and usage of the term ‘dime bag’ are pretty neat. It isn’t just about this one particular term, either. It’s about the bigger picture of advocacy and support that brought such a name to familiarity. 

Today, we’re going to open up another can of gorgeous green semantics. As well as, educate you on the ins and outs of a long-forgotten yet undeniably important piece of cannabis history – the dime bag!

What is a Dime Bag? What Does it Mean?

In days of cannabis yore, a dime bag was any bag of weed that street pushers and dealers would sell for exactly ten dollars. The origins of the name are obvious. 

It’s a bag, and it’s worth a dime, which was slang for ten dollars at the time. 

Variables such as the strain, the amount of weed in each dime bag or dimebag, and its quality were unknown. The only thing you knew for certain when buying a dime bag was that it cost ten big ones, and it was a bag of weed. 

We’ll take a minute to let that complex phrasing sink in.

Get it? Got it? Good – moving on! 

Compare that to modern-day cannabis dispensaries, and the difference is appalling. These days, you can buy weed online with absolute ease and with a fantastic selection. 

Everything from weed strain and potency to quality and freshness can all be selected quickly and efficiently.

Compare that to weed prohibition-era purchasing and tell us that we’re not spoiled!

So, what’s in a name? If we’re talking about dime bags and dimebags, not much. You won’t see many folks using this term to describe a bag of weed anymore. But, you might see modern-day capitalists and entrepreneurs co-opting the name and changing its meaning entirely. 

Today, a dime bag can also mean a stash box or any kind of weed storage container used to keep the dank, pungent smell of bud confined within. We can appreciate the wordplay (a bag full of dimes/dank weed), but we don’t particularly respect the disregard for the term’s history! 

How Much Weed is in a Dime Bag?

As we’ve touched on above, a dime bag really didn’t tell you much about how much weed was inside or anything about its quality.

If you were buying a dime bag back in the late 60s to the late 90s. Chances are you wouldn’t know anything about the product you were buying at all! Secrecy was the name of the game, so being able to open a dime bag, sniff the buds, and squish the nugs would not have been possible. 

In other words, dime bags were most likely passed under the table or exchanged through discreet handshakes. 

While the amount of weed in each dime bag varied from place to place and dealer to dealer. One element remained static throughout. There would always be enough ganja in a dime bag to roll at least one or two decently sized joints. 

On good days, a dime bag would get you roughly a gram of weed. On others, it’ll net you 0.5 to 0.75 grams of weed. No matter how much weed you get precisely, a dime bag will, at the very least, get you high! 

Factors Affecting Dime Bag Prices

Just like today’s cannabis market, many variables and economic factors affect the pricing of dime bags. Even during prohibition times, tokers and stoners were plentiful, so supply had to meet demand somehow.

During prohibition, this would’ve been especially tough. Seeing as how many producers would have had to grow their cannabis illicitly or through secretive means.

That said, here are some of the factors that affect dime bag (and weed) prices today! 

Location

Location, location, location. It’s not just a mantra for real estate. It’s applicable everywhere else, too! 

Your location has a considerable effect on weed prices. If you’re in an area known for their bud, such as British Columbia, you’ll be able to reap incredibly low prices for exceptionally good weed. 

Outdoor growth, especially in the Okanagan, is plentiful, and unlike other provinces. There’s less to worry about in terms of poor weather and climate.

On the other hand, if you’re near the Canadian Shield or located in the Maritimes, good luck finding an ounce for less than $300! Before legalization, a gram of AAAA bud might have cost you more than a pretty penny – to the tune of $15 a gram! 

Quality & Potency

Dime bag dealers didn’t have access to advanced hydroponics or indoor grow lights, but that doesn’t mean that they did not know how to grow cannabis and were producing ditch weed. Like the moonshiners before them, “illegal” growers were a large community of producers that prided themselves on growing quality weed.

However, that doesn’t mean that dime bags were of the best quality. By the time they got into the hands of the toker, the number of times it’d been crushed, left out to dry, and squished are too many to count. 

Like we said earlier, dime bags weren’t designed for the weed sommelier. They just got you high, and that’s it. That’s not to harp on the producers. It’s just the nature of the beast! 

Today, you can get a gram of quality bud for $6 to $10, depending on your location and the strain you choose to get. 

We think this is a far better deal than the unknown, unquantified dime bags of yesteryear! 

Time of Year

The changing of seasons brings with it a bounty of positives, but perhaps none are more welcome than lower weed prices.

As we touched upon above, places that can accommodate outdoor weed growing will have their prices significantly lower. As well as, no better time to grow weed than in the summer! 

Weed prices in the summer drop drastically, and you can expect the same to happen for dime bags back in the day! 

Instead of the usual half gram, you could expect gram or even a gram and half, depending on where you’re at! 

Dime Bag – A Piece of Cannabis History

Dime bags are rooted deep within the cannabis community. While it isn’t a shame to see the term slowly being replaced by others, it’s sad to know that many tokers will never know the struggle of getting high back in the day! 

Now that you’re aware of this piece of cannabis knowledge. We hope you take it upon yourself to let your family and friends know about the storied history behind cannabis dime bags. 

While we believe that knowledge is power. However, there is also something to be said for knowing what you’re getting and getting what you pay for. Thankfully, gone are the days of such unpredictability and uncertainty. 

Through services such as Buy Low Green, users can accurately see the vast selection of cannabis products, including flower, concentrates, edibles and more currently in stock and know precisely their price and what it is they will receive once they order.

We pride ourselves on our quality flower that provides potency, flavour and healing properties without breaking the bank. We guarantee that you will be able to find something to fit your specific price range. 

Not only that, but you don’t even have to venture to the store! Once you’ve made your selection, we will select, package and deliver your order straight to your door discreetly and efficiently. 

Visit our site today and see for yourself!