Grass
English slang for cannabis, particularly dried flower; documented from the mid-20th century.
Grass is just a generic word for cannabis—like calling a car a "vehicle." It doesn't tell you anything about what you're smoking: not the strain, not the THC or CBD content, not whether it'll make you relaxed or energetic. It's mostly a historical term now. You'll hear it in old movies and policy documents, but in 2026 people say "weed" or "flower." The name probably comes from how shredded leaf looks, but nobody knows for certain.
Definition
Grass is English-language slang for cannabis, particularly dried flower intended for smoking. It is a generic term that does not specify a strain, potency, cannabinoid profile, or consumption method beyond the assumption of smoking.
The word appears in major slang dictionaries as a synonym for cannabis. Documented use in American English dates to at least the mid-20th century [1]. Someone offered "grass" in 1969 and someone offered "weed" in 2024 mean essentially the same thing: cannabis flower.
Etymology and early history
The precise origin of "grass" as a cannabis term is not definitively documented. The Oxford English Dictionary and Green's Dictionary of Slang trace its cannabis-specific use to mid-20th-century American English [1]. A visual similarity between shredded cannabis leaf and lawn clippings has been suggested as a possible explanation, though this remains a plausible folk etymology rather than a documented etymology Weak / limited.
The term gained mainstream visibility through the 1960s counterculture, appearing in song lyrics, journalism, and U.S. government anti-drug literature of the period. By the early 1970s it was established enough that the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse used it casually alongside clinical terminology in public-facing materials.
Decline in usage
Usage of "grass" declined through the 1990s and 2000s as "weed" became the dominant casual term in North America [2]. Contemporary linguistic surveys of cannabis vocabulary consistently rank "weed" and "pot" above "grass" in frequency of use [2].
What grass does and does not refer to
What "grass" means: dried cannabis flower, typically smoked. In broader context it may refer to cannabis in general.
What it does not mean:
- It is not a strain, cultivar, or chemovar—it carries no information about genetics or identity.
- It does not imply low potency, high potency, or any particular effect profile.
- It does not indicate indica or sativa classification (these terms are unreliable predictors of effect in any case).
- It is not related to grasses in the botanical sense. Cannabis belongs to the family Cannabaceae, not Poaceae (true grasses) [3].
- It is unrelated to the British and Australian slang term "grass" meaning a police informant, which has a separate etymology.
There is no chemistry or cannabinoid profile specific to the label "grass." The THC, CBD, and terpene content of any plant material described as "grass" depends entirely on the particular plant, not on the slang term used to describe it.
Where you'll see it
"Grass" appears in Weedpedia primarily in historical contexts: discussions of 1960s–70s drug policy, the early decriminalization movement, and cultural artifacts from that era. For current cannabis vocabulary, see Weed and flower.
Sources
- Book Green, J. (2010). Green's Dictionary of Slang. Chambers/Oxford University Press. Entry: "grass, n."
- Peer-reviewed Lukianowicz, N. (1976). The discovery of a new vocabulary: cannabis slang. British Journal of Addiction, 71(2), 177–182.
- Peer-reviewed Small, E. (2015). Evolution and classification of Cannabis sativa (marijuana, hemp) in relation to human utilization. Botanical Review, 81(3), 189–294.
How this page was made
Generation history
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