Illinois is a beautiful state and home to Chicago, one of the nation’s most famous cities. However, one thing that sets it apart from the rest in terms of cannabis availability is that Illinois has the highest retail prices of any state in the U.S.
On average, an eighth ounce of flower at your Aurora, IL dispensary will cost you about $60-$80 depending on the strain and grower. The same amount in Aurora, CO, however, costs between $25-$40. The cost of concentrates vary widely in Colorado and can range between $20-$60 a gram. In Illinois, the same gram will cost you $80-$110. Cartridges (500 mg) range from $30-$50 in the mountains, while here, a 500 mg cartridge will run you at least $75, if not closer to $90.
Buying cannabis products at the dispo in Illinois can be a pricey stop indeed. So what can you do to cut your costs when shopping at an Aurora dispensary? Here are a few tips.
Buy Shake
Premium flower eighths are the highest priced in Illinois, followed by popcorn buds, prerolled joints, and then loose shake. When available, a quarter ounce (7 grams) of shake will cost about as much as an eighth of flower, so you get double the weight for the same price. Many people are misinformed about dispensary quality shake; it tends to be much higher in quality (and THC) content than the shake they may be used to. Growers take what falls off the buds when trimming, weighing, and packing premium flower to use for prerolled joints and shake, which often includes a lot of kief.
Depending on the grower and the packaging they use, shake can sometimes be a disappointment, but this is usually rare. To the surprise of many seasoned stoners, shake from an Aurora, IL dispensary can be very high in THC content, sometimes even more than the flowers it came from due to the ratio of kief to leaf.
Try Edibles
Edibles like chocolate bars, gummies, hard candies, and even beverages may save you money if you are someone who is more sensitive to this method of cannabinoid delivery. Some tokers can burn down an entire 1 g preroll to themselves in a single sitting but achieve the same effects or greater with 10 mg of THC in edible or tonic form.
For example, say you purchase a pack of five .5 g preroll joints, which cost about $50 in IL. If you use two per day, you can make them last about two and a half days. Say you can also achieve the same relief from a 10 mg edible twice per day. At Illinois dispensaries, edibles are typically sold in 100 mg packages for around $40, usually in easy-to-dose 10 mg candies or chocolate bar squares. This means you’d be able to make the edibles last twice as long (5 days) for $10 less.
This may not work as a money-saving strategy if you have a high tolerance or don’t process THC through your liver very well. E.g., if you use half a chocolate bar a day, the cost is going to be around the same. If you’re using more, eating your weed definitely isn’t trimming any expenses. Keep in mind that tonics and tinctures may still work well for individuals who struggle with obtaining the relief they need using traditional edibles. This is because the THC is absorbed sublingually (under the tongue) and is more readily absorbed into the bloodstream.
Take a T Break
Have you noticed that you need to use a lot more product than you used to in order to achieve your desired experience? This is common for cannabis users and is caused by the body building up a tolerance to THC. If you’ve ever seen a 2.5 g honey bucket and wondered how on earth someone could possibly need that much at once only to find yourself eyeballing it months later because your dabs are getting bigger, and it really does offer the cheapest per-gram price for concentrates, your tolerance might have gone up some.
Nobody likes a tolerance break, but taking one can be highly beneficial for your wallet. When you start using cannabis again, you’ll need a lot less to begin with to get the relief you need. If you’ve been dabbing a lot, you can also take a break from it and go back to using traditional flower. Because concentrates have such high THC content, your tolerance can soar if you’re hitting the sauce a little too hard.
Find out more ways to save money on cannabis products by looking for deals, promotions, and rewards clubs at your local Aurora dispensary.
