Slang, Culture & History

75 terms in this category

Cannabis culture code — 4:20 PM and April 20 — originated with San Rafael CA Waldos in 1971

Annual April 20 celebrations held in cities worldwide — rallies, music, communal consumption

"OIL" flipped upside-down — concentrate culture's answer to 420, celebrated July 10

Colorado's 2012 adult-use legalization vote — one of the first two in US history

The unofficial cannabis holiday — rallies, festivals, and communal consumption worldwide

Very high — implies a strong, fully realized cannabis experience

1951 federal law introducing mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses including cannabis

Low-quality cannabis (regional US slang) — also a crude term for rectal administration

Strain family (Wedding Cake, Ice Cream Cake) known for sweet, doughy terpene profiles

High Times' annual cannabis competition — the industry's most recognized award

Child with Dravet syndrome whose CBD success story launched the cannabidiol movement

Charlotte's Web

CBD-rich cultivar named for Charlotte Figi — catalyzed the CBD movement in 2013

Cheech and Chong

Comedy duo whose 1978 Up in Smoke defined stoner comedy as a genre

High-quality cannabis — popularized by Dr. Dre's 1992 album The Chronic

Controlled Substances Act (1970)

The law that placed cannabis on Schedule I — a historical milestone in prohibition

Berner's Girl Scout Cookies lineage — spawned a strain family and a billion-dollar brand

Dry mouth caused by cannabinoid inhibition of saliva production

Slang describing the state of being high from dabs or concentrate consumption

Slang for high-quality, aromatic, sticky cannabis — the opposite of "mid"

San Francisco activist, Prop 215 co-author, and Cannabis Buyers Club founder

Strain family with acrid, fuel-like terpene profile — Sour Diesel is the flagship

Slang for a cannabis joint — attested from 1960s, origins uncertain

Emerald Triangle

Humboldt, Mendocino, and Trinity counties in Northern California — the heart of American cannabis

A large, generously packed joint — the opposite of a pinner

Top-tier cannabis — exceptional appearance, aroma, potency, and cure

Slang for visibly heavy trichome coverage on cannabis flower — a marker of quality

Sanskrit-origin term for cannabis, used in Jamaican English and Rastafarian culture

Cannabis with a pungent, fuel-like, gassy aroma — typically diesel or OG lineage

Cookies × Sunset Sherbert cross — one of the most commercially dominant strain families

Cannabis slang from 1940s jazz culture — largely replaced by "weed" in modern usage

Harry Anslinger

FBN commissioner (1930-1962) who architected federal cannabis prohibition using racial propaganda

Older slang for a cannabis enthusiast — "head shop" derives from this usage

Seattle's annual hemp/cannabis festival — one of the largest cannabis events worldwide

Affectionate term for cannabis — common in Jamaican and Rastafarian English

Cannabis magazine founded 1974 — the publication of record for cannabis culture

Humboldt County

The iconic Northern California county synonymous with outdoor cannabis cultivation

Concentrate appreciation day — "710" = "OIL" inverted

Originally from the Hindu Kush mountains — now a generic term for potent cannabis

General slang for intoxicated or excited — borrowed from broader youth culture

Cannabis with extremely strong aroma — "so good you can smell it through the bag"

Marihuana Tax Act of 1937

First federal cannabis prohibition — effectively banned cannabis through punitive taxation

English rendering of "marijuana" — also a personification of cannabis in pop culture

Michael Thompson

Sentenced to 40-60 years in Michigan for selling 3 pounds of cannabis — released after 25 years

Mediocre-quality cannabis — average potency, unremarkable appearance, budget-tier

Increased appetite and food craving after cannabis use — CB1 activation in hypothalamus

Northern California

The cannabis-producing region that shaped modern American cannabis genetics and culture

Original Gangster — denotes authenticity, respect, and pioneering status in cannabis culture

Iconic West Coast cultivar of disputed origin — backbone of countless modern crosses

A thin, tightly rolled joint — conserves flower, burns slowly

Mid-20th-century American slang for cannabis, possibly from Spanish potiguaya

Informal term for the growing legal specialty focused on cannabis regulation and compliance

Proposition 215

California's 1996 Compassionate Use Act — the first modern state medical cannabis law

Bloodshot eyes from THC-induced vasodilation — the classic visible sign of being high

1930s American slang for cannabis or a cannabis cigarette — origins debated

1936 propaganda film warning of cannabis dangers — now iconic camp comedy

Low-quality cannabis — brown, seedy, minimal trichomes — shortening of "regular"

Served 31 years of a 90-year Florida sentence for cannabis trafficking — released 2020 at age 71

A forceful inhalation from a bong or dab rig — "rip a bong"

First legal medical cannabis patient in the US — won medical necessity defense in 1976

The lowest quality cannabis — often brick-pressed, seedy, harsh, and old

Short for session — a communal cannabis smoking or dabbing gathering

Actor and cannabis entrepreneur — co-founded Houseplant brand

Sunset Sherbert — a GSC phenotype foundational to the Cookies/Gelato lineage

David Watson's foundational 1970s hybrid — progenitor of much of modern cannabis genetics

General term for a cannabis user — being displaced by "consumer" in industry language

Hip-hop legend synonymous with cannabis culture — Leafs by Snoop brand

Sour Diesel lineage — sharp, pungent, fuel-like aroma; East Coast genetic icon

Well-cured cannabis with resinous trichomes that adhere to fingers when handled

Person who regularly uses cannabis — once pejorative, increasingly reclaimed

Cannabis culture term for exaggerated or unverified claims — "that's stoney baloney"

Trichome-dusted

Flower so covered in trichomes it appears powdered or frosted

Consuming cannabis first thing in the morning — associated with heavy use patterns

The most common casual English word for cannabis — attested from 1920s American slang

Sentenced to 55 years for three marijuana sales — judge called it "unjust, cruel, and irrational"

Country music icon and lifelong cannabis advocate — launched Willie's Reserve brand

Other Categories

Botany & Cultivation

Chemistry, Cannabinoids & ECS

Flower, Hash & Concentrates

Edibles, Smokeware & Devices

Consumption, Effects & Measurement

Legal & Regulatory

Industry & Commerce

Medical, Science & Research