Reviewed by The Farmers Choice Team · Updated
Cannabis terms and definitions on a New York dispensary menu come from two places: New York law and the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) define words such as concentrated cannabis, total THC and craft, while badder, live resin and gas are industry words those rules do not define. Each entry below is one sentence, notes when the definition is New York's, and links to a page that goes deeper.
Cannabis terms A to C
An all-in-one vape, also called a disposable, is a vaporizer with the cannabis oil and the battery built into one device.
Badder, also spelled budder, is a cannabis concentrate whipped to a soft texture like cake batter.
A cartridge, or cart, is a small tank of cannabis oil that attaches to a separate vape battery by a threaded 510 fitting, or by a matching fitting in a pod system.
A Certificate of Analysis, or COA, is defined in New York's packaging rules as a certified report from a cannabis laboratory, and every licensed label links to one, as our COA guide shows.
A concentrate is what New York's Cannabis Law calls concentrated cannabis: the separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from cannabis, or a material above a set level of total THC.
Craft is a protected label word: New York's regulations define a craft product to include flower or a pre-roll hang-dried, processed and manufactured exclusively by a licensed Tier 1 cultivator using only cannabis it grew, or by a licensed microbusiness, and a label may use the word only if OCM has designated the processor.
A cultivar is a named variety of cannabis, which OCM's label guide also calls a strain and says flower and pre-roll labels typically list.
Cannabis terms D to G
Diamonds are crystal-shaped pieces of cannabis concentrate, and OCM's testing limits name pre-rolls coated with diamonds as a mixed matrix product.
Distillate is a refined cannabis concentrate made by distilling an extract, and OCM's consumer page names it, with hash and live resin, as a type of cannabis extract.
An edible, under New York's packaging rules, is a product containing cannabis or concentrated cannabis and other ingredients, intended for use or consumption through ingestion, as our edibles dosing guide covers.
An eighth is menu shorthand for an eighth of an ounce of flower, and the net quantity on the package states the weight.
The expiration date on a New York label covers the unopened product, and OCM says to check the use by date once a package is open, since cannabis changes when exposed to air.
Flavored, in New York's regulations, means a cannabis product with a distinguishable taste or aroma other than the taste or aroma of cannabis, and some flavors are banned outright in vapes and other inhaled products.
Flower, in New York's Cannabis Law, is the flower of the cannabis plant after it has been harvested, dried and cured, excluding leaves and stem, while the regulations' broader cannabis flower product also includes leaves and trimmings.
Gas is a menu word for a sharp, fuel-like aroma, a description of smell rather than a regulatory or lab term, unlike the terpenes a lab report measures.
Cannabis terms H to M
Hash is a concentrate made from the cannabis plant's collected resin glands, and OCM counts solventless hash as unextracted cannabis in its testing limits while counting solvent-based hash as a concentrate.
Hybrid is the traditional label for a cultivar bred from both indica and sativa lines, and our indica, sativa and hybrid guide explains its limits.
Indica is a traditional name for one of the two classic cannabis plant types, used on menus and packages as a label for grouping cultivars.
Indoor flower comes from what New York's regulations define as indoor cultivation, growing cannabis in an indoor climate-controlled structure using only artificial light, heat, carbon dioxide generators and dehumidification.
Kief is the powdery resin glands that fall away from dried cannabis flower, counted as unextracted cannabis in OCM's testing limits and dusted onto some pre-rolls.
Live resin is a concentrate extracted from cannabis that was frozen soon after harvest instead of dried first.
Live rosin is rosin made from cannabis frozen soon after harvest instead of dried first, usually by pressing hash made from that fresh-frozen material.
A lot number, in New York's packaging rules, is the code from which a lot's complete history can be determined, and it should match the one on the product's Certificate of Analysis.
A mixed matrix product, in OCM's testing limits, combines unextracted cannabis with extracted or infused cannabis, such as flower dusted with kief or a pre-roll infused with resin.
Cannabis terms N to S
Net quantity is a product's weight or volume without its packaging, shown on the panel meant to face you and measured, for a vape, as the oil before it goes into the cartridge.
A pre-roll is cannabis that a licensed processor has ground and rolled, and New York's regulations list pre-rolls with whole flower, ground flower and shake as cannabis flower products.
Rosin is a concentrate pressed from cannabis with heat and pressure, and New York's regulations name rosin presses as mechanical extraction, which works without solvents or gases.
Sativa is a traditional name for the other classic cannabis plant type, used on menus and packages, like indica, as a plant-type label.
Shake is the small pieces of flower that break off buds in trimming and handling, a cannabis flower product in its own right under New York's regulations.
Shatter is a glassy, brittle cannabis concentrate, and New York's regulations name shatters, waxes and resin as examples of concentrates.
Smalls are whole cannabis buds that finished small and are packaged by size.
Solventless describes a concentrate made without solvents, such as rosin from a press, while any solvent a producer does use must be listed on the label and declared for lab testing.
Sun-grown usually means what New York's regulations call outdoor cultivation, mature cannabis grown under natural sunlight and weather, as distinct from mixed light growing that adds lamps to sunlight.
Cannabis terms T to Z
Terpenes are the compounds OCM describes as providing the aroma of cannabis and a variety of other plants, and New York requires every cannabis product to be tested for terpenes.
THCA, or tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, is the acid form of THC, and New York's total THC formula counts it.
A tincture, in New York's regulations, is a non-potable edible cannabis product that is a cannabis extract solution, and the tinctures category covers them.
Total THC is defined in New York's Cannabis Law as the percentage by weight or volume of THCA multiplied by 0.877, plus the percentage by weight or volume of THC, and it is the THC figure New York labels show.
The universal symbol is the image New York requires to show that a package or product contains cannabis, which OCM describes as designating a tested, regulated product.
A vaporizer is a device that heats cannabis oil or flower until it gives off a vapor instead of burning it, and our vaping guide compares the formats.
Wax is a soft, opaque cannabis concentrate, one of the concentrate examples New York's regulations name.
Which cannabis terms does New York define?
New York's Cannabis Law defines cannabis flower, concentrated cannabis and total THC. OCM's regulations define craft products, flavored products, indoor and outdoor cultivation, mechanical extraction, tinctures, the Certificate of Analysis, edibles, lot numbers, net quantity and the universal symbol, and its testing limits define mixed matrix products. A label may say organic only when the product's ingredients are at least 70 percent certified organic, and it may not make health claims.
How do you check a menu word the law does not define?
Badder, diamonds, distillate, live resin, smalls and gas are not defined in New York's Cannabis Law or in OCM's adult-use and packaging regulations, so check a menu description against the package:
- The front panel shows total THC and the net quantity.
- The ingredient and solvent lists name every ingredient by weight and any solvent used.
- The Certificate of Analysis names the sample type, the final product form the lab tested.
A Farm Hand at either Farmers Choice store can read a label with you and pull up its lab report. Farmers Choice New Paltz is at 1 Old Route 299, at NYS Thruway Exit 18, and is open 8AM to 10PM every day; bring a valid government-issued photo ID showing you are 21 or older, as our first dispensary visit guide explains. Ask Our Team about any word on the New Paltz menu.
Common questions
What does gas mean on a cannabis menu?
Gas is a menu word for a sharp, fuel-like aroma. It describes smell, not a lab result, and neither New York's Cannabis Law nor OCM's adult-use regulations define it. What a lab does measure is terpenes: New York requires every cannabis product to be tested for them, and the Office of Cannabis Management describes terpenes as the compounds that provide the aroma of cannabis and a variety of other plants.
What is the difference between live resin and live rosin?
Both start with cannabis that was frozen soon after harvest instead of dried first. Rosin is pressed out with heat and pressure, and New York's regulations list rosin presses as mechanical extraction, which works without solvents or gases. Live resin is extracted by other methods, and every New York label must list any solvent used to produce the product, so check the label's solvent list.
Is a cultivar the same as a strain?
Yes. New York's Office of Cannabis Management writes cultivar with strain in parentheses in its guide to reading labels, and says inhalables such as flower and pre-rolls typically list the cultivar inside. Under New York's regulations, a product is not presumed flavored solely because of the cultivar used, even when the cultivar's name sounds like a fruit.
What does mixed matrix mean for a cannabis product?
New York's cannabis testing limits call a product mixed matrix when it combines unextracted cannabis with extracted or infused cannabis. The Office of Cannabis Management's examples are pre-rolls coated with diamonds, flower infused with resin, flower dusted with kief and pre-rolls infused with resin, and mixed matrix products such as infused pre-rolls must be tested for residual solvents.
What does solventless mean on a cannabis concentrate?
It means the concentrate was made without solvents. New York's regulations define mechanical extraction as extraction using pressure, heat or cold, including rosin presses and dry ice, without employing solvents or gases. Every New York label must list any solvent used to produce the product, and the state's testing limits consider kief and solventless hash unextracted cannabis.
What does the universal symbol on cannabis packaging mean?
It shows that a package or product contains cannabis. New York's packaging rules require one of the approved versions of the symbol on regulated adult-use products, and the Office of Cannabis Management describes it as designating a tested, regulated product. Regulated New York adult-use products carry it, so a package without it is worth asking about.
Sources
- New York State Senate, Consolidated Laws of New York, Cannabis Law section 3, Definitions (cannabis flower, concentrated cannabis, total THC), nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CAN/3
- New York State Office of Cannabis Management, Adopted Adult-Use Cannabis Regulations (9 NYCRR Parts 118 to 125 and 131; definitions in section 118.1, product types in section 123.6), cannabis.ny.gov/AU-regs-express-terms
- New York State Office of Cannabis Management, Adopted Packaging, Labeling, Marketing and Advertising Regulations (9 NYCRR Part 128, sections 128.1, 128.5 and 128.6), cannabis.ny.gov/adopted-plma-regulations
- New York State Office of Cannabis Management, Part 128: Packaging & Labeling Guidance, cannabis.ny.gov/part-128-guidance
- New York State Office of Cannabis Management, Cannabis Testing Limits (terpene testing, unextracted and mixed matrix cannabis, residual solvents), cannabis.ny.gov/laboratory-testing-limits
- New York State Office of Cannabis Management, How to Read an Adult-Use Cannabis Label, cannabis.ny.gov/how-read-cannabis-label-fact-sheet
- New York State Office of Cannabis Management, How to Read a Lab Certificate of Analysis for Your Cannabis Product, cannabis.ny.gov/how-read-lab-certificate-analysis-your-cannabis-product
- New York State Office of Cannabis Management, Consumers, cannabis.ny.gov/consumers