Price per gram: comparing flower deals fairly

Flower is sold in different sizes, and deals are written in whatever size flatters them. Dividing the price by the grams puts every offer on the same footing, and it is the single most useful sum in a dispensary.

The sizes

The sum

Price divided by grams. Three real examples from Florida menus this month:

• An eighth at its regular $50: $50 ÷ 3.5 = $14.29 a gram.
• The same eighth on sale at $20: $20 ÷ 3.5 = $5.71 a gram.
• A 7 gram jar of small buds at $49: $49 ÷ 7 = $7.00 a gram.

The quarter looks like the bigger deal, and it is twice the flower, but the sale eighth is cheaper per gram. If you only need an eighth, the eighth wins twice.

When per gram is not the whole story

• Quality tiers. Shops sort flower into tiers or grades. A cheap gram of a value tier and a cheap gram of a top tier are different purchases.
• Ground flower and small buds. Usually cheaper per gram because they are less attractive, not necessarily weaker. Ground flower covers the trade-off.
• Freshness. A large bag that dries out before you finish it costs more than its label.
• Your limit. In Florida a big bag uses a big share of your 35-day flower allowance.

Let the feed do it

On FindMari, flower deals that state a price and a weight show their price per gram, and the deals feed can sort by it, cheapest first. A figure is only shown when the price and weight were read clearly from the deal, because a misread price is worse than none.