Mid
Subjective market term for mediocre cannabis flower between schwag and top-shelf.
Mid is pure slang—there's no official definition, no THC cutoff, and no chemical signature. It reflects what a buyer sees (trim, smell, trichomes, freshness) and feels relative to price. Dispensaries use it as a shelf tier because consumers need a quick word for 'decent but not special.' It's useful shorthand, but calling something mid says more about expectation than chemistry.
Definition
Mid (noun or adjective) describes cannabis flower judged to be mediocre—better than schwag or brick weed, but well below boutique "top-shelf" or "exotic" product. It is a subjective market tier, not a measured grade. A bud gets called mid when it is underwhelming on some combination of smell, trichome coverage, structure, flavor, and effect. The term has also become a general-purpose insult outside cannabis ("that movie was mid"), with broader cultural adoption reflected in mainstream reporting [1].
Market origins
The U.S. illicit market historically sorted flower into rough tiers: regs or schwag (brown, seedy, often pressed), mids (greener domestic outdoor or mediocre indoor), and kind, dank, or loud (high-quality indoor). As legal markets matured, dispensaries adopted a similar hierarchy—value shelf, mid-shelf, top-shelf, and "exotic" or "connoisseur." Mid survived as slang because consumers still need a quick word for "this is fine, not special." There is no regulatory definition; one shop's mid-shelf is another shop's top-shelf.
What people typically call mid
In practice, flower gets called mid when it shows several of these traits:
- Potency in the 12–18% THC range (vs. 20%+ for top-shelf marketing), though lab THC numbers are a poor and inconsistent guide to quality Strong evidence [2][3]
- Faded or grassy aroma rather than a loud, distinct terpene profile
- Larfy, airy, or overly leafy buds; sloppy trim or poor manicure
- Dried out, over-cured, or harsh smoke
- Old stock—terpenes degrade meaningfully within months of packaging Strong evidence [4]
Notably, indica vs. sativa taxonomy has nothing to do with whether something is mid. That classification system does not reliably predict effects or quality Strong evidence [5].
What mid is not
- Not a potency threshold. There is no THC percentage that makes flower mid or not-mid. Lab numbers are also inconsistent across testing facilities and frequently inflated Strong evidence [2][3].
- Not the same as low-quality. Mid is usually smokeable, gets you high, and is often the best value per dollar. "Schwag" or "reggie" is older slang for genuinely bad weed.
- Not a chemical category. No specific cannabinoid or terpene profile defines it.
- Not always a fair judgment. Many "this is mid" calls online are about brand hype, packaging, or price expectations rather than the flower itself.
Usage examples
- "It's mid." (adjective—descriptive or dismissive)
- "He sold me mids." (noun, plural)
- "Mid-shelf" (dispensary tier, between value and top-shelf)
The word carries dismissive tone. Calling a strain mid in a review is a soft pan. Calling a dispensary's whole menu mid is a hard one.
Sources
- Reported Lorenz, Taylor. "How 'Mid' Became the Internet's Favorite Insult." The Washington Post, 2022.
- Peer-reviewed Schwabe, A.L., et al. "Uncomfortably high: Testing reveals inflated THC potency on retail Cannabis labels." PLoS ONE, vol. 18, no. 2, 2023.
- Peer-reviewed Jikomes, N., & Zoorob, M. "The Cannabinoid Content of Legal Cannabis in Washington State Varies Systematically Across Testing Facilities and Popular Consumer Products." Scientific Reports, vol. 8, 2018.
- Peer-reviewed Milay, L., et al. "Cannabis Inflorescence Long-Term Storage: Stability of Cannabinoids and Terpenes." Molecules, vol. 25, no. 24, 2020.
- Peer-reviewed Smith, C.J., et al. "The Phytochemical Diversity of Commercial Cannabis in the United States." PLoS ONE, vol. 17, no. 4, 2022.
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