You’re standing at the counter, card in hand, wondering if that eighth is actually a good deal — and the whole thing hinges on one question you’re almost embarrassed to ask: how many grams in an ounce?

Let’s just get it out of the way: how many grams in an ounce? It’s 28. (Well, 28.3495 if you want to get nerdy about it, but 28 is the number that matters at the dispensary counter.) That single fact is the foundation of every smart cannabis purchase you’ll ever make as a DC medical patient. Understanding weed measurements isn’t about impressing anyone — it’s about protecting your wallet and making sure your medicine lasts. Once this clicks, you’ll start seeing price-per-gram like a reflex, the way you’d compare unit prices on grocery shelves.

Here at Green Legacy, we’ve watched hundreds of patients in Shaw and across the District have that lightbulb moment. Our budtenders love walking folks through our flower menu and breaking down the math in plain English — no judgment, ever. We’re a DC Health-licensed medical dispensary, so every gram on our shelves is tested, tracked, and legit. Whether you’re brand new to medical cannabis DC or you’ve been a cardholder for years, buying smarter starts with understanding the units.

I’ll never forget a patient — let’s call her Diane — who’d been buying a gram at a time every few days for over a year. She lived near Dupont Circle and would pop in on her lunch break. One afternoon we sat down and did the math together on a napkin. Turns out she was spending almost 40% more per gram than she would’ve if she’d just bought a half ounce at a time. Her face when she saw those numbers? Priceless. She’s been a bulk buyer ever since, and she texts us jokes about her “napkin revelation” to this day.