An Inside Look: The Life of a Minneapolis Weed Dealer
Interview by Talia Moreno, MPLS page
Talia: Where are you from and when did you come to Minneapolis?
Weedman: Well, I’m originally from Texas. I moved here four years ago. It’s been about, a little bit over four years, yeah.
Talia: Why did you move here?
Weedman: Should I include this in the interview?
Talia: You can say you moved out here for school, but you don’t have to say why or-
Weedman: Yeah. I moved out here for school.
Talia: What got you into selling weed?
Weedman: I’ve sold weed, well, just drugs in general since I was 16. I didn’t really get too much into it until my 20s. Started with edibles and mushrooms, then moved onto pills and sold coke for a little while. But I was the worst coke dealer because I just did all my coke. So, I stopped doing that before I moved here. Then I started again here because my girlfriend was fucking buying eighths for 70 bucks, so I was like I can get way better shit than you’re getting for way cheaper and it kinda just snowballed from there.
Talia: What made you start when you were 16?
Weedman: Just money, just trying to make some fucking money, you know?
Talia: What type of position were you in to need that money?
Weedman: Lower middle class and just wanted to make some cash to buy beer and fucking go to the mall and shit like that.
Talia: How has it been out here for you as a dealer?
Weedman: It’s good. I fully support myself selling weed. It’s my full-time job, like I pay my bills and I have a little bit left over. But the most challenging part is just dealing with fucking stupid people. It’s a service industry just like working a restaurant or retail, so you run into a lot of stupid motherfuckers. And because it’s kind of illegal, people think they can act differently than if it was a legit business.
Talia: Do you feel threatened by legalization?
Weedman: Yeah. I mean, no, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t. I’ve talked with people who have been through this process in other states, and they all said it’s gonna be good for business. It’s gonna make people more willing to buy weed because it’s legal to have on your person. It’s gonna make it easier to get product, make product cheaper. At the end of the day, it’s always gonna be cheaper to buy from a dealer because, you know, no taxes, you don’t have as much overhead with the facility, you don’t have to abide by all these laws. But I can’t say for sure and be confident about it, like I’m not gonna take a hit whenever dispensaries do open. So I guess it’s just a wait and see thing.
Talia: Right, ’cause I can imagine, like when I travel, going to dispensaries in California, they’re also clean.
Weedman: Yeah.
Talia: It’s like you’re going to the Apple Store, everything’s behind the shelf and you have to talk to people.
Weedman: Right.
Talia: Really commodifying it and making it kind of like an upper-class thing it almost feels like.
Weedman: Yeah, yeah. And, you know, it’s a good thing, and it’s good that it does make it into a legal market. But I think the majority of people… Oh, hey. I’m so sorry. Um, it’s a good thing that businesses are gonna open around it, but I think the majority of the marijuana market is still gonna be on the gray area, illegal area, because that’s just where it’s been and I hope it stays like that because there’s more opportunity for people to fucking get into it.
Talia: What do you consider your position in the hierarchy? Like you’re getting your stuff from plugs and then you’re the one getting it out to the people.
Beautiful Cannabis Buds, stock image
Weedman: Sure.
Talia: And do you feel threatened? What have the people above you said about legalization?
Weedman: Without getting into too much detail, I don’t get my product from anyone in Minneapolis. And I get my stuff from legal states. So, I think really with the legalization part, it makes it easier for people who are moving larger amounts, to get those amounts out of state, which is really where a lot of the good money is in the long run. But, you know, I talk to people who live in California, who live in Oklahoma who do both wholesale and like I do, distribution to just people. And they say most people who smoke often are just going to somebody who has weed. They’re not going to a dispensary and going through that whole rigmarole. Whether that’s gonna be the same thing here or not, I don’t know. We’ll see, you know?
Talia: So I guess the appeal to get it from out of state is that it will sell for more money here because it is, it was illegal.
Weedman: Mm-hmm.
Talia: And then is that gonna be like something that changes, like the pricing I guess? So are you making less money then?
Weedman: Well, so prices will definitely go down. Prices will go down for people buying it and also for me getting it. So, at the end of the day, hopefully not. My profit margins hopefully will be the same. And it’ll be a lot easier hopefully to get stuff grown in Minnesota as well.
Talia: Is that like a route you wanna take?
Weedman: Yeah definitely. I mean, from the people who I’ve talked to, they say the usual trend is legalization happens, people rush to get on the legal marijuana train. And then the market gets flooded with weed. And then there’s no one to buy that weed. So then the prices drop, and then people start going back to their dealers because it’s cheaper. So, I’m hoping that’s what happens here. But, you know, we’ll see.
Talia: So now that it is legal, what, do you have like a plan
and how long do you see yourself selling weed?
Weedman: Well, once I’m done with school, hopefully I wanna stop. So, I mean, it wasn’t always, it’s not like I’m banking on this for the rest of my life. I did have an idea for a legal business I wanted to start, ’cause I read all the laws and I read all the business types and, the one that I felt like was gonna be an area that was gonna be overlooked and the easiest to get into was the transportation part of it. So, there’s a license that’s called cannabis transporter and basically what that is is you’re just basically a Brink’s truck for weed. And you pick up weed from farms or from distribution centers and drive them to their final destination. You’re not selling anything to anyone.
Talia: Just the distributing side?
Weedman: Yeah. And the reason why I thought that that would be cool is because the only thing you just need a license. You need two employees and a truck. And that’s it.
Talia: You’re not talking about, ’cause like I’ve seen, I think in like Miami where they have like food trucks, but you just buy your weed goods there.
Weedman: Well, from the legal side of things, I can just… I mean, I drive around and sell weed all day long. I don’t need to buy a fucking license and pay all these taxes to do it. I can just do that. So in my eyes, the only one that I would really be into would be that, because I feel it would be a good way to make money the way I’m not already making money. That, or you know, I do grow myself. I’m not, like gonna say I’m really good at it. I had a successful harvest this past time and I’m gonna continue to try to get better at it.
Talia: Did you sell that harvest?
Weedman: I did, yeah. I sold, and I still have some of it left, but I have been selling it. And so there is a micro-business license you can apply for, which actually is really cool. What they did in Minnesota, they have a cannabis micro-business license that allows you to grow up to 1,000 feet of canopy. And you’re able to process your own flower into extracts, carts, vapes, edibles, and sell it on premises. So, it’s a really interesting idea to get people at the lower level into the legal cannabis side of things.
Talia: So you want the drug dealers of Minneapolis to be able to take that position of making the legal business?
Weedman: I mean, if that’s the way it’s gonna go, if the illegal side of this business is gonna be snuffed out by legalization, then fuck yeah. I don’t want some fucking guy who’s got a lot of money or has never had to be out here in the fucking streets doing this shit to come in and get all the money.
Talia: Are you worried that’s how it’s gonna go though?
Weedman: Uh, yeah. Definitely. You know, things are always cool and grassroots until they become too cool or, or you know, or legal in this case. But I remain hopeful that the way the laws are written, there’s gonna be a lot of businesses started from the lower part of society. Not like people coming in who have money and taking… And that’s one thing about the law that they did sign is the weed that’s gonna be sold here when dispensaries open next year is gonna be grown here as well.
Talia: I didn’t know that.
Weedman: Yeah. I mean, that’s, from what I understand, that’s what the law says. And that’s why weed is legal now. People have licenses now, just you know, dispensaries are open now but you can’t buy flower yet, because the licenses that they sold are for 2024. So in 2024, these grows are gonna come online and a couple of months after the start of the year, then I think we will start seeing weed enter into dispensaries and things like that.
Talia: What type of repercussions were you facing before legalization compared to now that it is legal?
Weedman: Definitely less worried about getting in trouble. I mean, I looked at the laws when I first started and I think if you had, like above two pounds, that’s a felony, so you’re going to prison. And now I think it’s just a fine. I mean, it’s a pretty big fine, but you won’t face jail time, not unless you’re really fucking around, you know what I mean?
Talia: What do you think about people who have gotten those felonies in the past who are in jail currently for those minor drug crimes and now it’s legal?
Weedman: You got to fucking let them out, man. I mean, it sucks and I don’t know what they’re gonna be doing for that. Hopefully they’re gonna rectify that. Like morally if it’s okay to get high and it’s okay to sell weed and it’s okay to smoke weed now, then why the fuck were we putting these dudes in jail over a year ago for the same thing?
Talia: To wrap this up, is there anything you think people should know about either your position or any thoughts or concerns the people of Minneapolis need to know?
Weedman: Um, stop buying 20s. At least a fucking quad. I’m not leaving the house for less than 50 bucks.
Weedman’s friend: Unless you’re fucking with a motherfucker like me. I’ll sell dimes and nicks all day.
Weedman: (laughs) I think if I had anything to say, I would say remember when this legalization does happen that there’s still, you know, your drug dealer is still out there selling weed. And he probably has cheaper, better shit than you’re gonna be able to find at the fucking dispensaries, to be honest with you. Support your local drug dealer (laughs).
Talia: Okay. If there’s nothing else you wanna say, I think we can be done.
Weedman: I’m good.
Talia: All right, thank you.
Weedman: Thank you.
End of Interview
