The majority of California voters said no to Proposition 19 which would have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Should the Proposition have passed, a variety of people would have been affected. One group in particular are those that sell the “forbidden” plant—the dealers. Being the investigative journalists we are, we set up an interview with a couple dealers to get their thoughts on the legalization of pot beyond what is allowed under the medicinal marijuana laws. Let’s begin. (names have obviously been changed for purposes of anonymity)
Cosby Sweaters: All right let’s start. First off, thanks for doing this on such short notice, much appreciated. Obviously we all know that Prop 19 didn’t pass. It was 46.2% for it and 53.8% against it. What do those numbers say to you?
Steve: People have obviously warmed up to the idea that pot shouldn’t have such a negative stigma attached to it.
Chris: Quite honestly I was surprised such a high percentage of voters voted in favor of it. I think the public is growing in acceptance of pot as a recreational drug.
Cosby Sweaters: You’re both proponents of marijuana. Do you want to see the government fully legalize it?
Chris: What and steal money from us?
Steve: I know I wouldn’t want to see it legalized. The government would control and regulate the product and that could potentially hurt a lot of people in the industry.
Chris: How can you compete with factories who have perfectly rolled up doobies? They’d perfect it and we’d all be out of money.
Cosby Sweaters: What do you think about drug enforcement and enforcing greater penalties for users, sellers, or dealers?
Chris: You make the penalties stiffer, then good. For those people not getting caught. Guess what? Price goes up.
Cosby Sweaters: You clearly made the choice to partake in this “underground” industry. Why?
Steve: Because when you crop out, it’s like you’ve won the lottery.
Chris: It’s not that easy to make that type of money doing anything, especially when you’ve been going to school for four years and then you see someone you know watering plants in his basement and coming out with a ton of cash.
Steve: I have my degree, but I made the choice to put that aside and start growing weed. I could be making $30 an hour which is a great wage, but really? Why would I want to do that when I have the knowledge to make in a whole year what I can do in two months?
Cosby Sweaters: We’ll leave it at that. Thanks to both of you for taking time out of your day to give us your feedback and thoughts, especially on such short notice. Although the public debate isn’t over, I think it’s beneficial we see the story from all sides and your input will be valuable to all of our readers. Thanks again.
*Special thanks to Black Widow for recording and transcribing our interview.
