Subscriptions - Maximum Yield Cannabis USA September/October 2020 | Page 105

Pops: age 65, male
Pops is in his 28th year
as a weed dealer. His
story begins in a film
production office where
he worked on a short
documentary about
medical marijuana. He’d
heard about all the sick
folks trying to access
decent marijuana to
alleviate their medical
ailments. Sometimes
these folks, so desperate,
bought from homeless
kids who’d mix up
oregano and quick stir
into small baggies to
make a buck.
“It was not easy to come by good ganja 28 years ago”
he insists.
Pops began selling weed out of his film production office.
Clients came through word of mouth only. They were being
referred to him by a fearless female activist who was lobbying
legal marijuana access for AIDS patients during the time. In
the beginning, his clients were 90 percent medical users.
Never arrested, he tells a vaudevillian tale about a sting
operation complete with a phone tap and an undercover
female officer, wig and all, who tried to bait him into a sale
on the street in front of his office. He wasn’t fooled, but he no
longer liked talking on the phone.
At the height of his operation, he was seeing an average of
100 people a week. Now he says he might see 20, which is why
he is considering retirement.
I asked him why he was still in the business 28 years
later. “I’ve met the most incredible people and found a lot of
joy in the work. Everything got very comfortable,” he said.
Ms. Sunshine:
age 49, female
Ms. Sunshine is in
her 22nd year of weed
dealing. It all started for
her in a thrift shop. Ms.
Sunshine was a professional
thrifter, buying
and selling vintage
items to supplement her
income, when she went
to work for Madam B,
who owned a very hip
thrift store. So hip, it sold
weed out of the back
room. Here, Ms. Sunshine
learned her the craft.
She’s had two arrests
and releases in her
history. Once at a concert, where she panicked then passed
over an ounce of rolled joints to cops threatening arrest. They
took the weed and walked away, typical at the time. Her
second arrest came through a sting operation of some hilarity
at Madam B’s thrift store; someone ratted them out.
The next night, Madam B and Ms. Sunshine were changing
some window displays after hours when six cops arrived at
the front door, hands already on their guns, declaring “you
are both under arrest.” They had a warrant to search. Both
ladies were serious hoarders and used the bathroom to store
stacks of old clothing. The cops searched in vain through
seasons of dresses and curtains stacked upon more dresses
and curtains for weed that had been removed the night
before. She said all they found was the hash cutting knife.
In the end, they left and that was that. The ladies resumed
business the very next day, only now they were paranoid the
cops had left hidden mics in the store, so they began doing
all their business silently by passing notes.
All Ms. Sunshine’s weed clientele came through her boss,
and when Madam B passed away she was gifted the business,
which she still runs today.
At the height of their operation they were seeing 40 or more
customers a week. Now she says she sees around 15.
When asked why she is still in the business today she
responds, “I don’t know much else because it feels like it’s
feeding me. I like it. I feel I am providing a good service.
But you live with lying. You lie about what you do. You
have to create a story for it and you have to live with lies
that can spill over.”
Buddy: age 50, male
Buddy writes, “I began
hustling dimes and grams
at 15. So, I reckon I’ve
been dealing for 35 years.
I initially started dealing
to offset the cost of my
smoking habit.”
That is some habit at 15,
Buddy! Very impressive!
He gives a heartfelt
response when I asked
him why he still deals.
“I love getting high and
getting people high.
When I decided to move
from street hustling to
getting a location to
deal out of and take it
more seriously, I started with three rules. Always have the
best product. Sell your product for a fair, non-greedy price.
And always be available for your clients… most of my clients
are like my extended family. We’ve gotten to know each other
over the years and I truly love them all. I’ve been able to make
decent money and make peoples’ lives better.”
Then I asked how dealing changed since he started?
“The biggest change I’ve seen in the business is the advent
of legalization and the sudden onslaught of capitalist minded
people invading the industry with nothing in mind but money
and opening up dispensaries all over the place.”
Buddy has been arrested three times for selling weed to
undercover cops. The fourth time he was arrested was a bit
more animated. “The police bashed the door to my crib down
and came in hard with guns out. It was quite a terrifying
event.” To date he has three trafficking convictions.
Buddy’s current customer base averages 50 per week,
but in the past he ran places that would see “hundreds of
customers a week.”
WM
Watermelon is a Vancouverbased
entrepreneur who loves
to tango, tell jokes, bake,
get baked. You can find her
Baking a Fool of Myself
videos on YouTube
and her backstory at
maximumyield.com.
Maximum Yield 105