What is the Difference Between Blunt and Joint?

Joints and blunts are words that are thrown around a lot in the cannabis industry. But sometimes, especially now that the industry has evolved so much, their definition might get lost. What they used to be, is no longer. So we wrote a short article to help you sort out this mess of terminology.

What is a Joint?

Joints are something we’ve all heard of at some point in our lives. The only difference is that we’ve always associated joints with marijuana, but the meaning of the word ‘joint’ has changed now that the perception and uses of cannabis have evolved.

In other words:

A joint is no longer something you use only to get high. Although you still can get intoxicated with a joint, it will depend on the type of joint you’re smoking.

A joint is often a ‘DIY-made’ cigarette that uses different types of rolling papers and filters but is always filled with 100% ground cannabis. But, did you notice how we used the word cannabis and not marijuana?

The reason is that cannabis isn’t necessarily psychoactive. You can roll non-psychoactive joints using hemp, a non-psychoactive variety of cannabis. In some cases, these joints can even be dipped in CBD oil and rolled in CBD kief for a more potent but still non-intoxicating effect. 

Smoking a joint is very simple-you just need to light the end and puff on the opposite end with the filter and that’s it. If you’re interested in hemp pre-rolls, make sure to check out our best selling pre-roll tin can by Buddha Hemp:

Buddha Hemp Blunt
Tin Can PreRolls

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If you want something with a little more kick to it, we also carry Delta 8 THC pre-rolls made with D8-infused hemp flower, like the Delta 8 Sticky Green Pre-Rolls:

Delta 8 Pre Rolls by Sticky Green

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While smoking a joint is very simple, rolling a joint is quite the opposite. You’ll need a bit of experience to roll the perfect joint because it requires dexterity with your fingers and knowing your way around the consistency of your ground flower. But if you don’t have the necessary experience then you can always use a joint roller which makes things a lot more simple.

What is a Blunt?

Like joints, blunts have evolved and so has their definition. Originally, a blunt was a much larger joint rolled using only cannabis as a filling, a filter if wanted, but this time the wrapping paper was a tobacco leaf.

Blunts began because the tobacco leaf provided a pleasant buzz but then started to fall out of style due to the decrease in nicotine consumption. In other words, using tobacco in your cannabis pre-rolls was no longer as popular and people started to look for a way out.

Nevertheless:

The appeal of a blunt was still there because it gives consumers an easier option to smoke a larger amount of cannabis without having to roll a thousand joints. Joints usually carry between 0.3 - 0.7g of cannabis, with a fair average estimate being 0.5g, while blunts usually carry between 1 - 2g of cannabis, a 1g blunt being the most common size, like this ERTH Hemp Watermelon CBD Blunt:

Watermelon CBD Pre-Roll
by ERTH Hemp

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But if tobacco was and still continues to go out of style, then how is it that blunts are still around, even if they use hemp as a filling? Well, they also use hemp as wrapping paper.

Hemp has been around for hundreds of years; it is not a new discovery. Only in the past, it was mostly used to make rope, clothes, and other non-consumables. Now it can also be used to make wrapping paper for blunts and joints. In the case of the blunt, it means you’re not really getting a traditional blunt, but a more diverse one that can be infused with a variety of different flavors.

Blunt smoke is usually thicker when rolled using tobacco leaves. Other than that, they are pretty similar to joints.

That said:

The main difference between a blunt and a joint today is the size because in many cases, blunts are now made with hemp paper as well. But if we go by the traditional definition of  a blunt, then the difference would be the tobacco leaf used in blunts as a wrapping paper.

What are Spliffs?

Spliffs are not even featured in the title of this article because they’re a product that we don’t carry in our store. But they are an important part of cannabis culture, so we might as well define them.

In short:

Spliffs are joints that are rolled not using 100% cannabis. The filling of spliffs combines dried tobacco, like the one used on traditional cigarettes, with ground cannabis. Other than that, spliffs look and feel like joints.

People enjoy spliffs because they provide a milder smoke with a bit of tobacco, so it makes it easier for regular cigarette smokers to enjoy.

How to Roll a Joint / Blunt

If you’re thinking about how to use a joint or blunt roller, we would first recommend that you try to learn how to roll them manually and only then try out an accessory. Rolling joints and blunts manually can actually be fun to do and a useful skill to have when there are no gadgets at hand.

How to Smoke a Joint / Blunt

As we’ve already described, smoking a joint is very simple. As you would with a traditional cigarette, just light and puff from the opposite end.

But smoking a joint is not the same as a regular cigarette in the sense that you could be inhaling an intoxicating substance or using it medically. So with joints and blunts, it’s more important to dose your intake. You don’t want to consume more cannabinoids than is necessary or more than your tolerance can handle.

Most pre-rolled blunts and joints will let you know exactly how much cannabis is in each unit, but if you’re rolling your own joints, then you’ll want to weigh your flower before grinding and rolling it.