NJ legal weed: We scoured 117 dispensary menus for the cheapest marijuana. What we found:

The price of legal weed at New Jersey dispensaries is still high, but you now buy an eighth-ounce of cannabis for as little as $20 in some parts of the state.

The Asbury Park Press analyzed the medical marijuana and adult use cannabis menus at all 76 dispensaries in New Jersey on Nov. 14 to pinpoint the cheapest eighth-ounce of weed in the state, which averages at $46.17 for recreational customers and $42.34 for medical marijuana patients. Prices in the cannabis market can fluctuate from store-to-store and from day-to-day.

The cheapest New Jersey legal weed for adult use customers can be found at Brute's Roots, an independent dispensary and cultivator in Egg Harbor Township. Brute's Roots was selling an eighth-ounce of small buds of its Goodfather strain for just $23, $13 cheaper than the next best option — all the way up in Bergen County, at Ascend's Fort Lee dispensary ($36 for an eighth-ounce of Find's Tarts #9 popcorn buds).

If you have a medical marijuana card, the cheapest legal weed is at Harmony Dispensary in Secaucus where patients can purchase an eighth-ounce of numerous strains from Harmony's in-house brand for just $20. Harmony, which initially opened as a nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary in 2018, is closing at the end of the month after its lease expires.

More: Inside the 'tug of war' over NJ legal weed sales

Harmony, which lost its license to grow adult use cannabis over the summer, is expected to be purchased by Illicit Gardens, a Missouri-based cannabis company, according to the Jersey Journal.

In Hoboken, patients can purchase an eighth-ounce of multiple $55 strains at The Station, the most expensive cheapest option of all New Jersey dispensaries. The Station is the first New Jersey location for Terrapin Care Station, which also operates six other dispensaries in Colorado and cultivates medical marijuana in Pennsylvania

The pricing data reveals an interesting, if not particularly surprising, trend: The more dispensaries, the cheaper the weed.

A thick cluster of dispensaries in North Jersey — there are 15 recreational dispensaries in Bergen, Hudson and parts of Essex and Passaic counties in the northeastern corner of the state — has a slightly lower-than-average price, $45.07 on average for the cheapest eighth-ounce of recreational cannabis ($41.36 for medicinal marijuana, which is available at 11 dispensaries in the area).

In a similar cluster of eight dispensaries in Somerset and Middlesex counties, the average price of the cheapest eighth-ounce on the menu is $46.25, just about the state's average cheapest eighth-ounce ($44.75 for medical marijuana patients at four dispensaries).

But in Atlantic and Cape May counties, the cheapest recreational eighth-ounce costs about $48 when accounting for the notable price drop at Brute's Roots, which is $19 cheaper than the next-closest location (MPX in Atlantic City). And in the northwestern part of the state — there are five dispensaries in Warren, Morris and parts of western Passaic counties — the cheapest eighth-ounce costs recreational customers $50.07 on average.

The average overall price of New Jersey cannabis has been gradually falling, from about $16.27 per gram (an eighth-ounce is 3.5 grams) in May 2022 to $13.06 per gram in July 2023, according to data from the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission. More recent pricing data was not available from the commission.

More: NJ dispensaries are selling a ton of legal weed. Here's how much the state is cashing in.

But New Jersey still has the most expensive legal weed on the east coast. The average price of Massachusetts cannabis was $5.55 per gram on Oct. 31. And when Maryland began legal weed sales in July, cannabis was selling at $9.27 per gram.

Mike Davis has spent the last decade covering New Jersey local news, marijuana legalization, transportation and a little bit of everything else. He's won a few awards that make his parents very proud. Contact him at mdavis@gannettnj.com or @byMikeDavis on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ dispensary prices: The cheapest legal weed is $23 at Brute's Roots