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I 6B The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 1, 2008
WednedayOctobr-1,20:8 - e *icign miy
Storied investment banks have
been closing shop on Wall Street
and the nation's economy is threat-
ening to hit the worse lowsince the
Great Depression.
But lets be honest, the mar-
ket that most concerns the aver-
age Econ 101 student doesn't have
much to do with stocks. The ebb
and flow of the campus marijuana
supply is what to watch.
The beginning of fall semester
canbe ahard time for cannabis-in-
clined students. Your dealer grad-
uated last spring. It's too awkward
to call your friend with the hook
up after not talking all summer.
You moved out of the dorms and
left the guy with the conspicuously
smelling room behind.
But there are also regular
market forces that regulate Ann
Arbor's weed supply in terms of
how much it costs, how good it is
and how soon you can get it.
September is a low point for
finding weed, according to sev-
eral buyers and sellers of weed on
campus. But these experts, who
are only identified by their first
initials because of the illegality of
marijuana, also assure that any
shortage should be relieved by
the end of October.
Weed market watchers said
growers in Northern Michigan
and the rural Midwest will har-
vest their crop right before the
first frost to give buds time to get
as big as possible.
"The college market is really
super sensitive," said A, an LSA
junior and daily smoker. "I think
part of it is the harvest - before
the harvest comes in it gets pretty
dry."
While the regional harvest is
one source of relief, another is the
United Parcel Service.
A said a lot of out-of-state stu-
dents will do some small-time
dealing .after receiving large ship-
ments fromtheir preferred sources
back home.
One dealer, University graduate
R, said his dissatisfaction with the
weed available on campus spurred
him to put in an order with a friend
who grows back home in Northern
California.
The pound of Strawberry-Kush
he received in the mail led him to
his current occupation.
R said many people from his
high school who wentto college out
of state fell into dealing the same
way. Yearning for the dependable
quality of Californian bud, they
buy in bulk and make some extra
- cash off their Midwest and East
Coast roommates.
The trick is to have it sent to
a fake name at an address with
many residents, a co-op or a frat
house, and tell the sender to
ZINE specifywith the delivery company
that a signature not-be required
upon delivery. The next step is to
hang out at the receiving address
24 hours a day until the package
arrives - but look out for a set-up.
"If somehow it does require
a signature, maybe that means
they're on to you," R said.
Engineering sophomore J, an
Ann Arbor native and frequent
buyer, said he resents the notion
that the only good weed around is
from out of state.
He said Ann Arbor hasa healthy
community of indoor growers pro-
ducingthe most potent strains, but
that these veteran Hash-bashers
are generally too old to sell to stu-
dents.
"A significant proportion of the
really good weed is grown in Ann
Arbor, but by an older generation,"
he said. "There's just this older
generation that doesn't mess with
us as much."
Known to purchase in $500
In-state smokers attest that those
prices aren't the standard rate
statewide or even at other campus-
es like Michigan State University
and Western Michigan University.
Like campus realty companies and
bars, Ann Arbor's weed dealers
also set their prices according to
the influx of expendable income
that accompanies the University's
wealthier out-of-state students.
"You can set the price really
high and still find some random
ass sorority girl who will pay any-
thing," A said.
R said he increased his prices
this fall - from $70 to $80 for an
eighth - when he realized people
would still pay.
"My prices have gone up, but
that's because I realized I could
sell it," he said. "Initially, people
are skeptical, buttheyalways come
back."
M, who belongs to a fraternity at
the University, said he knows a lot
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
They want to buy the
world with paper that
does not have any value."
- HUGO CHAVEZ, president of Venezuela,
attacking the United States for the low
value of the dollar.
"You are even more gorgeous
than you are on the [TV]."
- ASIF ALI ZARDARI, the president of Pakistan,
upon meeting with Gov. Sarah Palin, John
McCain's vice-presidential nominee.
"I'd say it's more likely than not that
prices will go down."
increments, J said he only buys
from local growers after gaining
some lucky connections, including
a teacher who sells out of her house
15 minutes out of town.
"Generally, the good,good weed,
the people aren't sketch," he said.
Ann Arbor's indoor supply is
more consistent as the growing
period is a two-to-three-month
cycle rather than an annual season.
But J said even the townie market
is feeling a slump because of the
effect of the summer drought on
local crops.
"It's usually bad during sum-
mer, but for the local connects ever
since the Fourth of July, it's been
dry," he said.
For the casual smoker who
doesn't drop half a grand on Sensi
Star, the going price of an eighth of
no-frills Chronic - or for the really
indiscriminate, Mids - is the cru-
cial question.
A said that prices have seemed
higher this year, but that the har-
vest and out-of-state supplements
should ward off price hikes.
"I'd say it's more likely than not
that prices will go down," he said.
Nationally, the average price of
an eighth of high-quality Kind Bud
is about $55, according to a High
Times Magazine reader survey
conducted from January 2005 to
August 2007.
The survey had an eighth of
Mids priced at $35, with lowest-
scale Schwag at $11.
In Ann Arbor, studentsoften pay
$65 or $75for the same amount of
weed regardless of quality grade.
of career-focused Greeks who will
pay more to be a degree removed
from the actual transaction.
"There a whole network of peo-
ple trying to get it without putting
their hands on it," he said. "They'll
pay higher because there's that
whole hands-off element."
R decided to expand his dealing
into a full-time operation after he
was able to double what he spent
on each $1,000 shipment last year.
"I'm out here. I don't have a job.
I'm not going to school. (Dealing)
pretty much pays for everything
and it's easy," he said.
While R is serious about corner-
ing more of campus - he said he
quit smoking pot himself, except
to sample product or smoke down
potential new customers, because
it made him lazy - he is hesitant
about getting into to gain more
customers, he is hesitant about
entering the lucrative residential
hall and Greek system markets.
A sensible dealer knows that a
large group of desperate smokers
could spell his demise.
"It's a good market, but it's a
little risky, because it's the kind of
market where people just throw
your (phone) number around," R
said.
But whom R takes on as a cus-
tomer also comes down to person-
ality.
"I would like to (sell to fraterni-
ties) because I know they would
pay more," he said. "But I don't
really like those kids and I don't
really want my weed in their
hands."
TALKING
POINTS
Three things you can talk about this week:
1. Skipping the LSAT
2. The Shenzhou VII
3. Somali pirates
And three things you can't:
1. Drunken Badgers
2. Mrs. Scarlet Johansson-
Reynoldsg
3. Letterman on McCain
rBY T HE NUMBERS
The cost, in dollars, of an omnibus spending bill that Congress
is currently trying to enact
The number of earmarks included in the spending bill
The cost, in dollars, of earmarks for Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican
from Alaska, who had more of these pet projects than anyone else
Source: Taxpayers for commonS ense
YOUTUBE
VIDEO OF
THE WEEK
My baby girl will
walk!
On Sept. 16, 2006, Sophie McInnes
was born. On that day, her father
Gavin had one hope: that his daughter
would be able to walk home from the
hospital.
"(The doctor) said it would be a mir-
acle if she were born walking," Gavin
McInnes says, while cradling Sophie
in his arms. "And I feel like that's not
what we're about. We're about hope,
and we're about believing in her."
McInnes said that he has faith that
Sophie will be able to walk that day.
But soonenough, Mcnnesisshown
holding her arms, trying to drag her
feet across the pavement to make her
walk. But his efforts are to no avail.
His head in his hands, he vows to con-
tinue trying, despite the fact that doc-
tors seemto think he's crazy.
After weeks of being shunned by
the medical community, McInnes puts
Sophie in a miniature wheelchair. He
pushes her around through the streets
of New York City and starts a charity
called "Help Sophie."
At one point, McInnes concedes
the difficulty of his task: "Eventually,
it became almost impossible to avoid.
Our baby was going to be unable to
walk until she was 14 months. It was
hell."
But don't worry. He says his sec-
ond child will be walking within two
months.
- BRIAN TENGEL
See this and other
YouTube videos of the week at
youtube.com/user/michigandaily
"The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate
enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of
literature. That ignorance is restraining."
- HORACE ENGDAHL, the top member of the Nobel Prize award jury, explaining why he believes that
American writers cannot compete with European writers. Most of the recipients of the literary prize
have been from Europe.
MARKET VALUES NATIONWIDE
Average prices for top, middle and low tier weed from
January 2005 to August 2007
THEME PARTY SUGGESTION
Palin pity party - Tomorrow night, Joe Biden and
Sarah Palin will clash on foreign policy, the economy
and other important stuff during the vice presiden-
tial debate. Gather with some friends and watch
Biden discuss his experience in foreign affairs, while
Palin talks about Alaska's proximity to Russia and
how she's really, truly "ready" to be McCain's veep.
She's already blown two interviews, so it really can't
get much worse for her. Or can it?
Throwing this party? Let us know. TheStotement@umich.edu
STUDY OF THE WEEK
More women are entering politics than ever
In the past decade, women have entered politics in larger numbers
than ever before. They now comprise 18.4 percent of parliament mem-
bers across the globe, according to a study released by the United Nations
Development Fund for Women.
Since1995, the proportion of women has grown by 7 percent,research-
era said. They attributed the rise in part to the realization among many
women that they must seize positions of power themselves in order to
effect change, rather than just lobbying others to do it.
Provided the rate of change remains steady, by 2045 women will
attain "parity" with men in the developing world, the researchers con-
cluded. They defined parity as holding between 40 and 60 percent of
elected parliamentary seats.
The researchers found that quota systems that reserve seats for
women have had a huge impact. Out of 22 countries where women com-
prise more than 30 percent of the national assembly, 18 use a quota.
- BRIAN TENGEL
$60
$30
SCHWAG
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SOURCE: HIGH TIMES MAGA