Dope deals in Suburbia

October 19 was the day I stood at the front door of a cozy, two-floor house waiting for a friends’ marijuana dealer to arrive. I had never done this before and had never seen or even spoken to a pot dealer.

It only took a few seconds for the door to open, revealing a clearly-stoned teenager welcoming me inside. “Come on in, we have a deal going on right now that you can watch,” he said.

Meet “Mr. Blaze,” my new best friend for the next few days.

Cowan spent time with "Mr. Blaze" to find out how pot is distributed to suburbia. Photo: Will Cowan

The room inside was void of any furniture except for the random littering of beanbag seats and an armchair, circled around a stained wood coffee table — covered with bongs, pipes, grinders, vaporizers, roaches, tiny baggies and of course, weed.

We were all circled around the table — a joint was being passed around among Blaze’s roommates and the customer.

“I’ve been doing this maybe since the summer, so not really that long,” said Blaze.

He went on to explain how to be a good dealer: one must have the connections to sustain the gig. It became a back-up plan for him to come up with the money to stay in the house they were renting.

A plethora of bongs, pipes, grinders and two big bags of weed covered the floor of Mr. Blaze's house. Photo: Will Cowan

“There was a bit [of time] where I didn’t have that many people to sell everything I needed to,” he added.

As the customer left, I got to take a look at the product myself.

He and his roommates brought up as much paraphernalia as they could find in the house and put it on display for me to see. A plethora of bongs, pipes, grinders and two big bags of weed covered the floor, as it did the table. I asked myself ‘What would happen if we were caught with this stuff?’

“Well, I have my medical marijuana license — so this stuff is actually legal,” he said. “I can have six pounds of bud or 400 plants in my possession and it is not illegal.”

“[The doctor] was going to give me less of an amount until I said to him that I use it for butter and cooking,” he said. “So I was able to boost my amount to 50 grams daily.”

A few days later, on Oct. 25, Blaze and I were hanging out when he received a text from a buyer. It was time to see exactly how a deal goes down in the outside world.

We drove down to a local Co-Op and parked between two large trucks.

He asked me to get in the backseat since it’s easier to have the buyer sit in the front seat to make the deal.

When I got to the back, I saw a woman, about 35 years old, appearing from a nearby gas station in front of us. She was wearing a fleece jacket and she seemed very determined to get to our car.

I started to panic when she got to the side of the car — expecting her to either get in the truck beside us or verbally accuse us for suspicious behavior.

Suddenly, she was inside the car. I froze. I watched this woman exchange the usual pleasantries and ultimately purchase weed.

“Thanks man, I’ll see you soon,” she said.

And like that, she was gone. No hassle, no begging for more — just a simple meet and greet.

I realized how simple it is.

Discretion and professionalism are some of the most important assets to any worker. The most common of people have all the basic requirements to pull off a deal.

When it comes to dealing, I found that it is not much different than most other jobs in the world.

The Reflector does not endorse, condone or encourage the use of and/or distribution of any illegal substance. Any and all views expressed are those of those interviewed.