[Ads-l] "Dime Bag" Query

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Here are the details with a date for the "nickel bag" OED citation.

Date: June 1963
Periodical: American Sociological Review
Vol. 28, No. 3
Article: Behavior Dimensions of Gang Delinquency
Authors: James F. Short, Jr., Ray A. Tennyson, Kenneth I. Howard
Quote Page 426
Database: JSTOR
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2090352

[Begin excerpt]
Even a "nickel bag" of marihuana costs $5
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 6:43 AM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The OED has a March 7, 1965 citation for dime bag (drug)
> The OED has a 1963 citation for nickel bag (drug)
>
> OED dime bag noun
> [Begin OED excerpt]
> Originally and chiefly North American.
> a. A bag containing ten cents' worth of something; b. slang a packet
> or measure of a small amount (originally ten dollars' worth) of an
> illicit drug; cf. nickel bag n.
> 1915 There will be included absolutely free a dime bag of
> fresh-roasted peanuts! Butte (Montana) Miner 6 April 5/1
> (advertisement)
> 1946 The green and yellow paper grass again is being sold by the dime bag.
> Syracuse (New York) Herald Amer. 24 March 36/4
> 1965 Inside a leg at the other end of the bed was Wally's stash: four
> nickel bags and two dime bags—$40 worth of heroin altogether.
> Chicago Tribune 7 March (Magazine) 29/1
> [End OED excerpt]
>
> OED nickel bag noun
> [Begin OED excerpt]
> U.S. slang.
> A bag containing, or a measure of, five dollars' worth of a drug.
> 1963 Nickel bag [see nickel n. A.2c].
> [End OED excerpt]
>
> OED nickel noun
> [Begin OED excerpt]
> 2.c. U.S. slang. Five dollars' worth of a drug (originally marijuana).
> Recorded earliest in nickel bag n.
> 1963 These criminal activities are directed toward the acquisition of
> larger sums of money when related to drug use. Even a ‘nickel bag’ of
> marihuana costs $5.
> American Sociological Review vol. 28 426/2
> [End OED excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 6:17 AM Shapiro, Fred
> <00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> > I am having trouble getting into some OED entries.  Can anyone check for me what is the earliest citation on oed.com for "dime bag" meaning a $10 packet of a drug ?
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org