In a small college town like Athens, have you ever thought about what students do in their free time? Selling weed might not be the first guess at the top of the list, but at Ohio University, one freshman, who will remain anonymous given the illegality of his profession, runs his own business, using it not only for an income but also for connections on campus.
“It is fun because you do get to meet other people,” he said. “At the same time, I'm still making money either way. I mainly try to use that money to … get more and it's fun to get that money and have it there just in case I have an emergency.”
This dealer got into selling weed in the Cleveland area before coming to OU, but was worried about making an income in college, inspiring him to keep his business running.
“When coming here I was just like, ‘Well, maybe I'll try it out,’” he said. “It seemed to work out. The main reason why I sell is to get enough money to buy more again and then smoke, keeping the balance in between.”
Currently, he sells bud, the actual flower of a cannabis plant, to customers through social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, as well as iMessage.
“Right now, I have a couple of people that will continue to come back and they'll hit me up every weekend,” he said. “Sometimes it depends though. Maybe a week or two, people won't buy and then I have to text people like, ‘Hey, I still got stuff. You can come through. Maybe I'll cut you a deal if you send me more people,’ just stuff like that.”
When making deals, the freshman admits he does get nervous from time to time about getting caught by law enforcement, but says his small clientele of customers and dedication to his academics keeps his anxiety down.
“I do get kind of scared, but I just think like, I’m in school, I'm a good student,” he said. “I attend all of my classes. I just feel like I'm on top of my stuff. I'm not really slacking behind in any aspect. I'm a good person, so that always keeps my conscience clean in a way.”
He also says that his roommates and friends are comfortable with his business on campus, helping him find customers when in need. However, he keeps his dealing a secret between him and his family.
“My roommates know and my friends know,” he said. “I ask them to help me. I'll say, ‘Can you please send anybody my way?’ My family doesn't know. They know I smoke, but they don't know how I'm paying for it down here. They know I don't have a job, so it is a secret from them just because I know my mom would get worried.”
Through his business, he’s able to spend more on weed for himself, enough to last him for one week at a time.
“I buy a lot at a time, so I spend quite a bit, like $150 to $160 each time,” he said. “That’s just so I have enough to last me maybe a week and the rest I can sell.”
While there’s a lot of stigma behind selling weed as a college student, the dealer says that some stereotypes of the profession are to his advantage, such as having a hard exterior.
“There are aspects of the stigma that actually do help a person who deals,” he said. “You don't want to be robbed, obviously. A lot of people know that they can probably come up to you. You do want to have a bad stigma … or just something like, ‘Oh, he's mean, he’s whatever,’ just so nobody messes with you.”
According to the freshman, there are also a lot of personal benefits to dealing as well, even if at times it is hard to find people to sell weed to.
“Looking for new people in general is always hard, but some (pros) are I get to essentially smoke for free myself,” he said. “I smoke a lot every day, so I am pretty thankful for that and having the extra money on the side … to keep for myself.”
Still, he says the constant anxiety that comes with dealing is one negative effect of choosing this side-hustle, causing him to overthink his image as a person in and outside of the classroom.
“Just being nervous all the time, just bad anxiety about, ‘I don't want to really get caught with this.’ It would be so bad for me and so bad for my school image,” he said. “It's hard sometimes. It's just a lot of being patient and a lot of telling people like, ‘OK, I got more,’ and pestering them, even though I don't want to be that way.”
However, being a weed dealer in Athens won’t be a permanent job for the freshman. He hopes to move away from it temporarily this summer.
“I think it will be mostly just a college thing,” he said. “I'm worried about where the money is coming from. In the summer, I'm going to get a job. Just during school, I feel like schoolwork is too much right now.”
With the pros and cons that come with dealing, the freshman emphasizes that people should look past the stereotypes that come with this profession, as the business is all about staying patient.
“I feel like people don't really sell to make a lot of money, and they don't have a lot of expensive things,” he said. “It's not really that easy. It's just about being patient and waiting.”
