Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (drugs) a cannabis cigarette, thus lazy J a cigarette that one has begged from a fellow-inmate.

1969		in Current Sl. IV:3–4 (1970).
1973		Newsweek 12 Feb. 68: The POW’s will quickly learn about ‘bummers’ (‘unpleasant experiences, especially with drugs’), ‘joints’ (‘marijuana cigarettes, jays, j’s, reefers’) and ‘munchies’ (‘to be hungry, usually after ingesting marijuana’).
1977		J. Sayles Union Dues (1978) 316: Roll us a couple of Js and don’t spill it all on the fuckin rug!
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 166: Hey lemme throw you out with a j. You try it, you never want nothin’ else.
1982		Eble Campus Sl. Spring 5: j, j-bo, jay – short for joint.
1986		L. Heinemann Paco’s Story (1987) 11: The younger, ‘hipper’ ones popped opium on the sly or sprinkled it on their jays.
1993		A. Rodriguez Spidertown (1994) 105: [He] sat beside her, grabbing his bag of smoke and rolling a jay.
1993		Snoop Doggy Dogg ‘Gin and Juice’ 🎵 A fat ass J, of some bubonic chronic that made me choke.
1997		L. Pettiway Workin’ It 129: I didn’t really smoke J’s.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 94/1: J n. a marijuana cigarette [...] 106/1: lazy J n. a marijuana joint bludged from another inmate.
2001		J. Baker Shooting in the Dark (2002) 326: He took another toke on the J.
2003		Hashbash.com 🌐 No, it is not legal (yet) to smoke marijuana at the HASH BASH. [...] While at this point we can not endorse this we can pass on some pointers to keep you from getting busted. Here they are: It’s not the puffin’ it’s that passn’..........Smoke your own, they watch for that ‘ear yer hit’ passing of the jay.
2011		Independent on Sun. Books 13 Mar. 69/1: He skinned up a jay.
2013		T. Dorsey Riptide Ultra-Glide 61: Coleman twisted the end of the jay in his mouth.

2. marijuana.

1986

Schoolly D ‘P.S.K. What Does It Mean’ 🎵 Copped some brew, some J, some coke.