Jack Herer NYC snapshot: on 18 of 32 licensed dispensary menus on Oct 17, 2026, $22.12 to $44 per eighth, 20% to 34% THC on labels

Jack Herer Strain: History, THC and Where to Buy It in NYC

Jack Herer is a sativa-leaning hybrid from the Dutch seed company Sensi Seeds, built on Haze and Northern Lights #5 and named for the Buffalo-born activist who wrote The Emperor Wears No Clothes. On Oct 17, 2026 it was on 18 of the 32 licensed NYC dispensary menus we read, the second most stocked strain in the city, at $22.12 to $44 per eighth with 20% to 34% THC on the labels.

Jack Herer at a glance

Type Sativa-dominant hybrid per Leafly; Sensi Seeds calls it 50/50; NYC menus list it as sativa
Lineage Haze x Northern Lights #5, with Shiva Skunk also cited. Sensi Seeds has not published the recipe
Breeder Sensi Seeds
Named for Jack Herer (1939 to 2010), author and legalization activist
THC About 18% on Leafly; 21% to 26% on Weedmaps; 20% to 34% on NYC menu labels
Terpenes Terpinolene, then caryophyllene and pinene, per Leafly
Aroma and flavor Pine, wood, earth and spice, with a hashish note
Effects people report Focused, energetic, creative
Awards High Times Cannabis Cup, 1994; first in the sativa category at the 1999 Cannabis Cup, per Weedmaps
On NYC menus 18 of 32 on Oct 17, 2026, second most
NYC menu price $22.12 to $44 per eighth (citywide median: $40)

NYC figures come from our read of 32 licensed dispensary flower menus on Oct 17, 2026; two of them (FlynnStoned Chelsea and Unlimited Cannabis) could only be partly read. See how we built the dataset. Page published Oct 12, 2026; menu data refreshed Oct 17, 2026.

Who Jack Herer was

The strain is named for a person. Jack Herer was born in Buffalo, New York, on June 18, 1939, and died in Eugene, Oregon, on April 15, 2010, after a heart attack the previous September (Wikipedia). In 1985 he self-published The Emperor Wears No Clothes, a history of hemp that became a founding text of the legalization movement. He founded HEMP, short for Help End Marijuana Prohibition, and ran for president in 1988 and 1992 on the Grassroots Party ticket.

Where the strain comes from

Sensi Seeds bred and named the strain. Leafly and Weedmaps give the parents as Haze and Northern Lights #5, with Shiva Skunk also in the mix, while Weedmaps notes that Sensi “hasn’t published the exact recipe.” Sensi’s own page says only that the plant carries about equal sativa and indica genes.

Jack Herer has been winning prizes for three decades. Weedmaps credits it with a win at the 1994 High Times Cannabis Cup and first place in the sativa category at the 1999 Cup, and Sensi lists it as a Cannabis Cup gold winner. It is also a parent: Leafly lists Amnesia and Cinderella 99 among its offspring.

Aroma, flavor and terpenes

Leafly lists terpinolene as the dominant terpene, which is unusual; most popular strains lead with myrcene or caryophyllene. Terpinolene gives a fresh, piney and slightly floral smell, and caryophyllene and pinene follow. Leafly’s flavor tags are pine, woody, earthy and spicy, and Sensi Seeds describes a sharp, savory hashish tone, with fruity skunk in some plants.

THC and effects

Leafly lists about 18% THC, Weedmaps gives 21% to 26%, and Sensi says it can exceed 20%. On NYC menus the labels ran from 20% to 34%.

In more than 5,000 reports on Leafly, the most common tags are focused, energetic and creative, which is why it has a reputation as a daytime strain. The most reported downsides are dry mouth, anxiety and dry eyes. Those are consumer reports, not predictions. Our THC calculator turns a label percentage into milligrams per serving.

Forms and brands of Jack Herer in New York

In New York, Jack Herer is mostly a flower strain. These are the growers whose Jack Herer was on NYC flower menus on Oct 17, 2026:

Form Brand (New York) Where we saw it
Flower Back Home Cannabis Co. NYC dispensary menus
Flower High Scale NYC dispensary menus
Flower JHR NYC dispensary menus
Flower Platinum Reserve NYC dispensary menus
Flower Ruby Farms NYC dispensary menus
Flower Untitled NYC dispensary menus
Flower Willie’s Reserve NYC dispensary menus
Flower Zips NYC dispensary menus

Willie’s Reserve is the brand tied to Willie Nelson; our Willie Nelson cannabis page has the story. We could not confirm a Jack Herer vape cartridge, pre-roll pack or edible from a New York licensed brand in October 2026. Verilife’s Capital Region store in Latham says it carries Jack Herer in flower and concentrates, but did not name a product. If you want another form, ask the shop; the strain’s pine and terpinolene profile is a common choice for vape terpene blends, and those blends are flavor, not the plant.

Where to buy Jack Herer in NYC

On Oct 17, 2026 we read the public flower menus of 32 state-licensed dispensaries across the five boroughs. Jack Herer was on 18 of them. Each shop below has its address, phone number, a Google Maps link, its online menu, our listing for it and the Jack Herer products we saw on its menu that day. Menus change daily, so check the menu or call before you go.

Bar chart of NYC dispensaries stocking Jack Herer by borough: Manhattan 7 of 13, Brooklyn 6 of 11, Queens 3 of 6, the Bronx 1 of 1, Staten Island 1 of 1
Jack Herer by borough: licensed NYC dispensaries carrying it, out of the menus we read in each borough on Oct 17, 2026.

Jack Herer in Manhattan (7 shops)

Jack Herer in Brooklyn (6 shops)

Jack Herer in Queens (3 shops)

Jack Herer in The Bronx (1 shop)

Jack Herer in Staten Island (1 shop)

  • The Vault (East Shore). 1151 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10305. Phone: (718) 689-6330. Google Maps · Online menu · Our listing. On the menu Oct 17: Platinum Reserve, 3.5g, $38, 28.4% THC; High Scale, 3.5g, $37, 23.4% THC; Zips, 14g, $77, 27.1% THC.

The growers on those menus were Back Home Cannabis Co., High Scale, JHR, Platinum Reserve, Ruby Farms, Untitled, Willie’s Reserve and Zips. Eighths ran from $22.12 to $44, against a citywide median of $40. Some shops ran sales that day, so a few of the lowest prices may be sale prices. The live entry is under Jack Herer in our NYC weed strains database, and our NYC dispensary directory lists every licensed shop by borough.

Bar chart comparing how many of 32 licensed NYC dispensary menus carried each strain on Oct 17, 2026: Blue Dream 21, Jack Herer 18, Permanent Marker 17, Gorilla Glue (GG4) 17, Lemon Cherry Gelato 16
How the five strains in this series compare on NYC menus, Oct 17, 2026.

Is Jack Herer legal in New York?

Jack Herer, the man, spent decades campaigning to legalize cannabis. In New York the strain named after him is legal for adults 21 and over, bought from a licensed dispensary or licensed delivery service (Office of Cannabis Management). Here it is sold almost entirely as flower, so the limit that applies is 3 ounces per adult.

Licensed stores display the state’s QR verification code, and the state verification page or our license checker will confirm any address. The rest of the rules, from where you can smoke to taxes and federal law, are in our summary of New York cannabis rules.

Jack Herer in the news

When Herer died in 2010, Seattle’s alt-weekly The Stranger ran “Jack Herer, R.I.P.” by Dominic Holden, calling him the founder of the modern legalization movement. The piece credits his book with reviving reform in the 1990s and links it to the medical marijuana laws and ballot measures that followed, including California’s 2010 legalization initiative. New York legalized adult use in 2021, eleven years after his death.

Jack Herer FAQ

What strain is Jack Herer?

Jack Herer is a sativa-leaning hybrid bred by Sensi Seeds. Leafly and Weedmaps give the parents as Haze and Northern Lights #5, with Shiva Skunk also cited; Sensi has not published the recipe.

Who was Jack Herer?

Jack Herer (1939 to 2010) was a Buffalo-born activist who wrote The Emperor Wears No Clothes in 1985, founded the group HEMP and ran for president in 1988 and 1992. The strain is named for him.

Is Jack Herer sativa or indica?

It is a hybrid. Leafly calls it sativa-dominant, Sensi Seeds calls it about 50/50, and NYC dispensary menus list it as a sativa.

How strong is Jack Herer?

Leafly lists about 18% THC and Weedmaps gives 21% to 26%. Labels on NYC dispensary menus ranged from 20% to 34% on Oct 17, 2026.

Where can I buy Jack Herer in NYC?

On Oct 17, 2026 it was on 18 of the 32 licensed NYC menus we read: 7 in Manhattan, 6 in Brooklyn, 3 in Queens, 1 in the Bronx and 1 on Staten Island. Prices were $22.12 to $44 per eighth.

What does Jack Herer taste like?

Pine, wood, earth and spice, per Leafly, with a sharp hashish note that Sensi Seeds describes. The dominant terpene is terpinolene.

More strain guides

Sources

For adults 21 and over. Nothing on this page is medical advice. Effects people report vary from person to person. Phone numbers and addresses were checked against each shop’s own site or listing in October 2026.