Joint vs Blunt vs Spliff: What's the Difference?

Quick answer: The difference is the wrap and whether there's tobacco. A joint is cannabis rolled in rolling paper, with no tobacco. A blunt is cannabis rolled in a cigar wrapper or a blunt wrap, which is traditionally tobacco leaf (tobacco-free wraps exist too). A spliff is cannabis mixed with tobacco and rolled in rolling paper. Those are the usual US meanings; in other countries the words shift.

Joint, blunt and spliff side by side

What is a joint?

A joint is cannabis rolled in rolling paper. Papers are thin sheets of hemp, rice or wood pulp, sold in sizes from single wide up to king size. In the US sense of the word, there's no tobacco in a joint, in the paper or the filling.

Paper is the thinnest of the three wraps, and the thinner the paper, the less paper taste it adds. Many people put a filter tip (a crutch) in the mouth end to keep it open and keep loose bits out of their mouth.

If you're learning, start here. The beginner's guide to rolling a joint walks through it step by step, and rolling paper sizes covers which paper to buy.

What is a blunt?

A blunt is cannabis rolled in a cigar wrapper. The classic method is to split a cheap cigar or cigarillo, empty out the tobacco and refill it with cannabis. The name comes from Phillies Blunt cigars, which were commonly used this way.

You can also buy blunt wraps as flat sheets made for rolling. Some are made of tobacco. Others are sold as tobacco-free and are made from hemp, palm leaf, banana leaf or rose petals. We compare them in types of blunt wraps.

Two things set a blunt apart:

• The wrap is thicker than paper. Blunts are usually bigger than joints, so they take longer to smoke and are often shared.
• A tobacco wrap means tobacco. The filling is all cannabis, but if the wrap is a cigarillo or tobacco leaf, the blunt contains tobacco and nicotine. Cigarillos and tobacco wraps are tobacco products, and federal law limits their sale to adults 21 and older.

Rolling one is covered in how to roll a blunt.

What is a spliff?

A spliff is cannabis mixed with tobacco and rolled in rolling paper. From the outside it looks like a joint. The difference is the filling. There's no standard ratio; the roller decides how much tobacco goes in.

Mix the two evenly before you fill the paper. A spliff that's all tobacco on one side and all flower on the other burns unevenly. Roll it the same way as a joint, with or without a tip.

Why the words get mixed up

• Country. In much of Europe, mixing tobacco into a joint is normal, so a "joint" there may be what Americans call a spliff.
• Jamaica. "Spliff" is Jamaican English, recorded since the 1930s, and there it can simply mean a cannabis cigarette with no tobacco.
• Hemp wraps. Some people call a hemp-wrapped roll a blunt, others a hemp blunt. Same shape, no tobacco.

When in doubt, ask two questions: what is it rolled in, and is there tobacco in it?

How to tell which one you're holding

• Look at the wrap. Thin paper, white or light brown, means a joint or a spliff. A thicker leaf or sheet, usually darker brown, means a blunt.
• Look at the open end. In a spliff you can often see fine, darker strands of tobacco mixed in with the flower.
• Read the pack. If you're buying wraps or cones, the pack should say what the wrap is made of and whether it's tobacco-free.

Which ones use a filter tip?

The filter tip size guide has the full chart. Whether a blunt needs one at all is covered in do blunts need a filter tip.

Das makes disposable filter tips in 6mm, 7mm, 8mm and 12mm, so there's a size for each of these.

Which should you roll?

• Cannabis only, small or medium: a joint. It's also the easiest of the three to learn on.
• Bigger, slower, for sharing: a blunt. Soften the wrap before you roll so it doesn't crack.
• No tobacco: a joint, or a blunt in a wrap sold as tobacco-free. Spliffs and tobacco wraps both add tobacco.

Products are for adults 21+.