Blunt vs joint vs spliff at a glance
Two things separate them: what the weed is wrapped in, and whether tobacco goes inside.
| Joint | Spliff | Blunt | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wrap | Thin rolling paper | Thin rolling paper | Cigar or tobacco-leaf wrap |
| Inside | Ground weed only | Weed mixed with tobacco | Weed only |
| Nicotine | None | Yes, from the tobacco | Yes, from the wrap |
| Usual size | 0.5 to 1 g | Varies with the mix | 1 to 2 g, often more |
| Burn | Even, medium length | Stays lit easily | Slow and long |
| Taste | The strain | Strain plus tobacco | Sweet, earthy leaf |
The short rule: the wrap decides whether it is a blunt, and the tobacco decides whether it is a spliff.
What is a joint?
A joint is ground cannabis rolled in a thin paper, usually with a small cardboard tip at the mouth end, called a crutch or filter. Papers are made from rice, hemp or wood pulp, and the thinner the paper, the less it gets in the way of the strain's taste.
Most joints hold half a gram to a gram. A pre-roll is simply a joint that someone else rolled: ours are 0.7 g cones of milled whole buds, with no shake or trim, rolled in-house in BC.
What is a spliff?
A spliff is a joint with tobacco mixed into the weed, rolled in the same thin paper. There is no fixed ratio. Some people add a pinch to help it burn, while others roll it close to half weed, half tobacco.
People roll spliffs to stretch a small amount of weed, to keep the joint lit, or because they already smoke tobacco and like the head rush that nicotine adds. Spliffs are the everyday way to smoke in much of Europe, while North American smokers lean toward plain joints.
The trade-off is the tobacco itself. It brings nicotine, which is addictive, and its flavour sits on top of the strain's.
What is a blunt?
A blunt is cannabis rolled in a cigar wrap. The original method is to split a cigar or cigarillo, empty out the tobacco and refill it with weed. Most people now buy ready-made blunt wraps instead.
The wrap is made from tobacco, so a blunt carries nicotine even when there is no loose tobacco inside. It is thicker and slower-burning than paper, holds anywhere from one to a few grams, and is usually passed around a group.
Hemp wraps look and roll like blunt wraps but contain no tobacco, so they leave out the nicotine. Some smokers still call a hemp-wrapped roll a blunt; others call it a big joint.
What does spliff mean, and where do the names come from?
- Spliff is Jamaican English, recorded in print since 1936, and nobody knows exactly where the word came from. In Jamaica, it has long meant a big joint, with or without tobacco. The tobacco meaning took hold in the UK and Europe.
- Blunt comes from blunt cigars, a short cigar style named for its rounded tip. Smokers hollowed them out and refilled them with weed.
- Joint has been slang for a cannabis cigarette since the late 1930s. Why that word was picked is still debated.
Which hits harder: a blunt, joint or spliff?
Mostly, whichever holds the most weed. A blunt usually carries the most, so it delivers more THC over a session. A spliff swaps part of the weed for tobacco, so it delivers less.
The nicotine in blunts and spliffs adds a quick head rush that can feel like a stronger high, but it adds no THC. Gram for gram, the same flower hits the same way in any wrap.
For a joint that genuinely hits harder, adding concentrate does more than a bigger wrap. Our infused pre-rolls carry THCa isolate and list about 50% THC, against 27 to 36% for the plain cones of the same strains. Our infused pre-rolls guide explains how they are made and how to smoke one.
How to roll a joint
- Grind the flower. A fluffy, medium grind rolls and burns evenly, while powder chokes the airflow. Our aluminum grinder breaks a bud up in a few half-turns back and forth.
- Make a tip. Fold a strip of thin card into a small zigzag, then roll it into a tube that fits the end of the paper.
- Fill the paper. Hold the paper with the glue strip along the top edge, facing you. Set the tip at one end and spread about half a gram of ground bud evenly along the crease.
- Shape it. Pinch the paper and roll it back and forth between your fingers until the flower packs into an even tube.
- Tuck, roll and seal. Tuck the near edge of the paper around the flower, roll it up, then lick the glue strip and press it closed. Pack the open end lightly and twist it shut.
Rolling over a rolling tray keeps stray bits off the table. A spliff rolls the same way, with the tobacco mixed into the ground flower first. A blunt wrap needs a little moisture to soften it and a firmer seal, since the leaf is thicker than paper.
Skip the rolling: pre-rolled joints
Our pre-rolls come ten 0.7 g cones to a pack, milled from whole flower we grow and roll ourselves in BC. Each product page lists the strain, its lineage and its THC.
Two to start with: Bread and Butter pre-rolls, a hybrid with sweet butter, vanilla and nutty flavours, and Tropicana Cherry pre-rolls, citrus and tropical fruit with a cherry note.
For one big roll to pass around, blunt-style but tobacco-free, the 2G Atomic Diamond Roll is Frumpz flower glazed in liquid diamonds and rolled in THCA crystals. It lists 69% THC and is built for experienced smokers.