Backwoods and Packwoods sound alike, but legally they have almost nothing in common. Backwoods are tobacco leaf cigars regulated by the FDA and sold to adults 21 and older in gas stations and smoke shops across the country. Packwoods are cannabis pre-rolls that remain federally illegal and can only be bought lawfully inside a licensed dispensary in a state with an adult-use marijuana program. That single split, tobacco versus cannabis, drives every other difference between them: who can buy, where sales are allowed, what you can do with the product across state lines, and what a mistake costs you.
Backwoods Are a Tobacco Product
Backwoods is a brand of natural tobacco leaf cigars manufactured by ITG Brands, first introduced in 1973.1Wikipedia. Backwoods Smokes The FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products regulates their manufacture, marketing, and distribution.2Food and Drug Administration. Tobacco Products Federal law bars any retailer from selling tobacco to anyone under 21, and retailers must check a photo ID from any customer who looks under 30.3Federal Register. Prohibition of Sale of Tobacco Products to Persons Younger Than 21 Years of Age
Beyond the age limit and labeling rules on the seller, there are no possession penalties attached to Backwoods. An adult carrying a pack faces no criminal exposure at any level. Flavored varieties, which drive much of the brand’s popularity, remain legal and widely available as of 2026.
Packwoods Are a Cannabis Product
Packwoods (now also branded as “Packs”) is a Los Angeles cannabis company that sells pre-rolled joints, blunts, flower, and disposable vapes. Its signature product is a high-potency pre-roll made with cannabis flower, often infused with concentrates and coated in kief, wrapped in a tobacco-free leaf with a glass filter tip.
Because Packwoods’ flagship product contains more than 0.3% THC, it can only be lawfully purchased in states with a recreational cannabis program, and only from a state-licensed dispensary. A medical-only state is generally not enough; infused pre-rolls are usually adult-use inventory.4Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State Medical Cannabis Laws Licensed dispensaries must sell products that have passed state-mandated lab testing for potency, pesticides, heavy metals, microbial contamination, mycotoxins, and residual solvents. That testing is the main consumer protection separating dispensary product from anything sold outside the legal system.
The Federal Law That Splits the Two
Tobacco is a legal, regulated substance. Cannabis is still classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, the same federal category as heroin and LSD.5Congress.gov. Legal Consequences of Rescheduling Marijuana
In December 2025, President Trump issued an executive order directing the Attorney General to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, following a May 2024 proposed rule from the DEA and DOJ. As of early 2026, no final action has been taken, and marijuana remains Schedule I under federal law.5Congress.gov. Legal Consequences of Rescheduling Marijuana Even if rescheduling goes through, it would not legalize recreational cannabis; Schedule III substances still require a prescription or other authorization.
What Possession Actually Costs
Because cannabis is Schedule I, possessing a Packwoods pre-roll is a federal crime no matter what the state around you says. First-offense simple possession carries up to one year in prison and a minimum $1,000 fine. A second offense after a prior drug conviction runs 15 days to two years with a minimum $2,500 fine. Three or more prior convictions push the range to 90 days to three years and a minimum $5,000 fine.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 844 – Penalties for Simple Possession Federal prosecutors rarely charge simple possession in legal states, but the authority exists and gets used in federal jurisdictions like national parks, military bases, and airports.
Backwoods carry no equivalent risk. There is no federal or state possession penalty for an adult holding a legal tobacco cigar.
Crossing State Lines
You can put Backwoods in a bag and travel anywhere in the country without a legal problem. Cannabis is different. Transporting marijuana across a state line is a federal trafficking offense, even if both states have legalized it. The moment cannabis crosses a border, federal jurisdiction under the Controlled Substances Act attaches, and penalties scale with quantity: distribution of 100 kilograms or more carries a five-year mandatory minimum, and 1,000 kilograms or more raises that to ten years.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 841 – Prohibited Acts Even a single Packwoods pre-roll technically qualifies as interstate trafficking when carried across a state line.
Airports
TSA does not search for marijuana; it screens for security threats. If cannabis is found during a routine screening, though, the officer is required to refer the matter to law enforcement.8Transportation Security Administration. Medical Marijuana What happens after that depends on which agency polices that airport. Local police in a legal state may confiscate and release. On federal property, or in a non-legal state, arrest is on the table. Infused products, edibles, vapes, and oils tend to draw more screening attention than plain flower.
Mailing and Shipping
Mailing cannabis through USPS is a federal crime regardless of state law. Because USPS is a federal agency, sending any Schedule I substance through the mail violates both the Controlled Substances Act and federal mail statutes. Small first-offense amounts can bring misdemeanor charges of up to one year and a $1,000 fine; larger quantities or repeat offenses escalate to felonies with mandatory minimums of five years or more.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 844 – Penalties for Simple Possession UPS and FedEx also prohibit cannabis shipments and cooperate with law enforcement on flagged packages.
Tobacco is treated more permissively. Under the PACT Act, cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are generally banned from the mail, but cigars are explicitly exempt and remain mailable.9United States Postal Service. Field Information Kit – PACT Act Backwoods can legally ship through USPS, though online tobacco retailers still have to meet state-specific age verification and tax rules.
Buying Packwoods Outside a Dispensary
The narrow legal channel for Packwoods has created a large counterfeit market. Any product sold as Packwoods outside a licensed dispensary is almost certainly fake, whether it shows up on social media, on an online store that ships to non-legal states, or through an unlicensed dealer. Cloned packaging is cheap and easy to source, so professional-looking wrappers say nothing about what’s inside.
Lab testing of illicit cannabis products has turned up lead and nickel at hundreds of times the safe limit, along with pesticides, residual solvents, and, in vape cartridges, vitamin E acetate, the additive tied to the 2019 EVALI lung injury outbreak. Licensed products are screened for those contaminants before they reach the shelf. Counterfeits are not.
Legally, buying cannabis from an unlicensed source is a crime in every state, including states where cannabis is legal for adults. Legal states built their frameworks around licensed production and sale, and some of them impose enhanced penalties on unlicensed sales precisely because those sales undercut the regulated market.
What They Cost, and Why
Both products carry excise taxes, but the structures diverge sharply. Tobacco excise taxes apply at the federal and state level, with state rates varying widely; some states charge a flat per-cigar amount, others a percentage of wholesale. Those taxes are built into the shelf price of a pack of Backwoods.
Cannabis excise taxes run much higher. States with recreational programs typically add a dedicated cannabis excise tax on top of standard sales tax, roughly 6% to 37% depending on the state, sometimes calculated on retail price, sometimes on wholesale, sometimes by weight. Add mandatory lab testing and seed-to-sale tracking, and legal Packwoods cost significantly more than counterfeit copies, which is exactly what makes the black market tempting and dangerous.
Using a Backwoods Wrapper for Cannabis
A Backwoods wrapper on its own is a legal tobacco product. Fill it with cannabis in a state where marijuana remains illegal, and the same wrapper becomes drug paraphernalia. Federal law prohibits selling, mailing, or importing any item primarily intended for introducing a controlled substance into the body.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 863 – Drug Paraphernalia A wrapper on a store shelf is legal; the same wrapper packed with cannabis and found during a traffic stop can add a paraphernalia charge on top of any possession charge.