As you get to know our favorite plant, you may be wondering: Why are there so many names for weed? What do they mean? What are some good ones?
This blog post will answer those questions and more. You’ll learn what several names for weed mean – including well-known and lesser-known ones – plus what they reveal about cannabis’s fascinating cultural legacy.
Whether you’re looking to drop some rad names for weed at your next group smoke session, understand cannabis’s place in modern America, or just generally learn more about the plant, read on.
As your go-to Massachusetts cannabis dispensary, Garden Remedies is here to support you during your personal journey with weed – both with our top-notch cannabis products and the educational resources you need to enjoy them to the fullest.
Cannabis vs. Marijuana vs. Weed: Untangling the Most Popular Names for Weed
Let’s start with the names you already know. Though they’re used somewhat interchangeably, each name carries distinct connotations, history, and meanings. (As soon as you realize these subtle yet profound differences, you’ll start noticing them everywhere!)
Cannabis
“Cannabis” is the scientific name for the Cannabis sativa plant. It comes from “kannabis,” which is the Greek word for “hemp.” In usage since as early as 1548, according to some records, “cannabis” is now the most clinical, medical, and official term for the plant, used by scientists, researchers, medical professionals, policy makers, and legal dispensaries alike.[1]
Where have you seen or heard the word cannabis recently? Was it in a research article? On the sign outside your local dispensary?
Marijuana
On the other hand, marijuana may be what you call the plant when you’re with your friends, sharing a joint, blunt, or spliff – or just talking. For many people, it’s an informal, fun term.
Its history is, unfortunately, not fun. Originating in Mexico, “marijuana” (or “marihuana”) was deliberately used by Harry Anslinger, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics’s first commissioner, to describe cannabis starting in the 1930s. He knew that associating the plant with Mexico would evoke racist sentiments, making it seem negative and foreign to many – and therefore justifying its criminalization.
We now see this time as the beginning of the War on Drugs. Though Anslinger’s claims about marijuana were obviously biased and lacked any evidence, redeeming the plant’s image in the mind of America has proven to be challenging.[2]
Weed
“Weed” has become a predominantly neutral term. It’s what you might use to casually refer to the plant among friends or even at the dispensary. It’s recognizable and widely-known.
Its exact origins are less known: “weed” joined “marijuana” in recorded history beginning in the early twentieth century. It is short for locoweed, a toxic North American plant causing extreme reactions that is decidedly not the Cannabis sativa plant whose products we know and love today.[3]
Scientific blunder? Fear tactic? Perhaps we’ll never know for sure. Regardless, “weed” has taken root and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Sampling Fun and Funky Names for Weed
The less popular names for weed feature even more variety and vivid color. Maybe you’ll recognize a few of them and others will be new to you.
A Classic List of Delicious Options
Besides cannabis, marijuana, and weed, there’s a wide world of ways to say “weed” – plus multiple slang terms for using it.[4] Here are some great ones to try the next time you want to impress your friends:
- Pot
- Bud
- Kush
- Dope
- Ganja
- Grass
- Reefer
- Yerba
- Skunk
- Gas
- Chronic
- Herb
- Smoke
- Leaf
- Tree
- Mary Jane
Ways to Say “I Know a Lot About Weed” (Basically)
Nicknames for ways to consume weed have also developed over time. Experiment with making them your own and see what you come up with! (This activity is particularly exciting while enjoying weed. Or Ganja. Or Tree.)[5]
- Pearl = when the joint or blunt you’re smoking is perfectly rolled
- Dogwalker = a short joint (presumably small enough to smoke while taking your dog for a quick walk around the block)
- Rip = to take a deep, long inhalation from your chosen smoking apparatus (like a bong or vape)
- Banger = a type of nail often used for dabbing cannabis concentrates
Consider this list merely an introduction to the amazing lexicon inspired by marijuana. What other terms can you discover?
Fun Facts About Some of Our Favorite Names for Weed
- “Pot” as a name for weed comes from “potación de guaya,” which means “drink of grief.” Supposedly some Spanish folks used to steep their cannabis in wine to make a drink with extra special effects.
- “Mary Jane” is the direct translation of “María Juana,” a personal name for “marihuana.” Many names for weed have Spanish origins or influences, thanks to the plant’s rich history there since the arrival of Spanish colonizers during the sixteenth century.[6]
- “Dope” was actually a pretty popular slang word for weed back in the 1970s. Over time, it’s become more often used for heroin and other narcotic drugs.[7]
- Evoking its medicinal and natural properties, cannabis is occasionally called “herb” by enthusiasts of the plant.[8]
- Beyond their names, all of the cannabis products and ways of consuming them that you enjoy today stem from cross-cultural interactions over centuries: some pleasant and mutually beneficial, others not.
- Did you know that blunts, joints, and spliffs are also the products of storied cultural history?
Why Do the Names for Weed Matter? Exploring Their Multidimensional Significance
Such an abundance of wide-ranging names for weed has developed due to a few factors. People like us simply love the plant!
Even more, secrecy has been, and still is, behind many of these names: cannabis lovers have had to hide the plant and its usage from authorities. So, they created covert ways of speaking about it with their close friends, relatives, and community members.
America’s Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, led by Harry Anslinger, serves as an example of why many names for weed develop. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) recent list of “Drug Slang Code Words,” published in 2017 and updated in the years since then, is another: it chronicles some street names for weed, educating law enforcement personnel on how to catch the many ways people might say “marijuana.”[9]
As long as there are people criminalizing cannabis, there will be others who protect it. Distant and recent histories display this dynamic. Cultural names for weed tell us of a collective affinity for the plant – and, often, a shared desire to protect ourselves and weed from authorities across borders.
When you savor your legal cannabis, talk to friends about last night’s gas, or consume media about ganja, you are receiving the fruits of this legacy. What can you do to honor it?
Support your local dispensary. Speak about the plant with respect. Have fun (so much fun!) trying out different names for weed, enjoying how freely you can use them these days, even in public settings.
Share this information with others. Get to know the cultural history of cannabis – and the resilience that we, as members of the cannabis community across time, share with it.
And stop by Garden Remedies in Newton, Melrose, and Marlborough, MA for fresh green. We’re proud to be growing the future of the cannabis industry with you.
[1] https://headynj.com/culture/weed-marijuana-loud-gas-the-different-names-for-cannabis/
[2] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harry-anslinger-the-man-behind-the-marijuana-ban/
[3] https://www.cannaspecialists.org/why_call_it_cannabis
[4] https://zinniahealth.com/substance-use/marijuana/slang-names
[5] https://www.greendragonfl.com/blog/slang-terms-for-marijuana
[6] https://www.dinafem.org/en/blog/history-of-cannabis-in-mexico/
[7] https://myplantin.com/weed/slang-names-for-weed
[8] https://headynj.com/culture/weed-marijuana-loud-gas-the-different-names-for-cannabis/
[9] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/nicknames-for-weed-698267/
As a freelance writer, Emma McTague runs a marketing agency for spiritual & eco-friendly businesses. She is also the Managing Director of As We Wake, a non-profit & psychedelic church based in San Diego, where she lives in community by the beach. She is wildly passionate about plants.
