Smoke and mirrors: the drug dealer next door
Chris Maggio
Issue date: 2/25/10 Section: Lifestyles
Tom Baker, whose name has been changed, is a Capital student who sells marijuana.
Although the previous sentence may have conjured up an image of a dark and mysterious figure huddled beneath a streetlight on Livingston Avenue, Baker is neither of those things nor is he on academic probation.
Baker's not in it to get you hooked and he's definitely not in it to pay for his college tuition.
The reason he started selling is rather simple.
"If a lot of people like [marijuana], a lot of people want it, and a lot of people smoke weed anyway, I guess then, it's more, why not?" Baker said.
As for profit, Baker said he makes "enough to cover it back and a little bit on the side to make it worth my while."
Baker also discussed whether he had any qualms with dealing.
"It's kind of cliché, but I don't like to think of it as drugs because when I hear drugs I think of hard drugs and I think of bad things, people ruining their lives, etc."
Roger Adams, director of public safety, brought up a similar point.
"If you compare us to what our students could be exposed to, I think they're making pretty good choices," Adams said.
Although Adams doesn't condone marijuana or underage alcohol use, he cited the increased use of heroin among high school students and the neighborhoods around Bexley with much greater drug problems.
Baker later acknowledged that marijuana is a drug, just not according to his connotation of addiction.
"If I saw something wrong with it, I wouldn't do it."
As for the marijuana use on campus, the university had zero arrests for marijuana from 2005 to 2007.
The university did have 13 referrals, which are handled by student rights and responsibilities, not public safety, in 2007, 11 in 2006, and 12 in 2005. The referrals continue decreasing with each previous year.
"The evidence isn't here to support campus drug use, but I don't think anyone should be naive enough that it's not here," Adams said.
Baker gave his own view of a typical Capital party:
"Alcohol, number one. Weed, number two. Every once in a while, someone has ecstasy. For a party, pretty much just drinking and sometimes smoking."
He also noted that in certain situations, smoking marijuana can be dangerous.
"Ok, I have a two hour drive ahead of me, in the snow in the middle of the night, during a blizzard, I'm not going to try weed for the first time," Baker said.
"That's a really bad decision, regardless of what you say about weed being good."
He countered that, though, with just smoking in a room.
"You chill for the whole night. What's going to happen?"
According to the 1936 propaganda film Reefer Madness, the answer to Baker's question could include rape, murder and suicide by defenestration.
He is quick to debunk this stereotype: "No, you're gonna sit on a couch and be high and think a lot and be hungry," Baker said. "You're not going to go crazy."
Baker gets his marijuana [the same way almost every seller gets his marijuana]: "I talk to somebody who talks to somebody who gets it."
If he doesn't worry about the marijuana itself, does he worry about contamination as it passes through these many hands?
"Laced? That never happens. In that case, you specifically ask for that, and you pay extra. I know it's going to be good because I trust the source."
Baker does not believe his life will mirror the popular television show Weeds, which features middle-aged adults who are marijuana users.
"The only reason it works is because I'm on a college campus and people want it."
And what happens after Baker graduates?
"Then I'll get a real job."
By Chris Maggio
Editorial staff
cmaggio@capital.edu
Although the previous sentence may have conjured up an image of a dark and mysterious figure huddled beneath a streetlight on Livingston Avenue, Baker is neither of those things nor is he on academic probation.
Baker's not in it to get you hooked and he's definitely not in it to pay for his college tuition.
The reason he started selling is rather simple.
"If a lot of people like [marijuana], a lot of people want it, and a lot of people smoke weed anyway, I guess then, it's more, why not?" Baker said.
As for profit, Baker said he makes "enough to cover it back and a little bit on the side to make it worth my while."
Baker also discussed whether he had any qualms with dealing.
"It's kind of cliché, but I don't like to think of it as drugs because when I hear drugs I think of hard drugs and I think of bad things, people ruining their lives, etc."
Roger Adams, director of public safety, brought up a similar point.
"If you compare us to what our students could be exposed to, I think they're making pretty good choices," Adams said.
Although Adams doesn't condone marijuana or underage alcohol use, he cited the increased use of heroin among high school students and the neighborhoods around Bexley with much greater drug problems.
Baker later acknowledged that marijuana is a drug, just not according to his connotation of addiction.
"If I saw something wrong with it, I wouldn't do it."
As for the marijuana use on campus, the university had zero arrests for marijuana from 2005 to 2007.
The university did have 13 referrals, which are handled by student rights and responsibilities, not public safety, in 2007, 11 in 2006, and 12 in 2005. The referrals continue decreasing with each previous year.
"The evidence isn't here to support campus drug use, but I don't think anyone should be naive enough that it's not here," Adams said.
Baker gave his own view of a typical Capital party:
"Alcohol, number one. Weed, number two. Every once in a while, someone has ecstasy. For a party, pretty much just drinking and sometimes smoking."
He also noted that in certain situations, smoking marijuana can be dangerous.
"Ok, I have a two hour drive ahead of me, in the snow in the middle of the night, during a blizzard, I'm not going to try weed for the first time," Baker said.
"That's a really bad decision, regardless of what you say about weed being good."
He countered that, though, with just smoking in a room.
"You chill for the whole night. What's going to happen?"
According to the 1936 propaganda film Reefer Madness, the answer to Baker's question could include rape, murder and suicide by defenestration.
He is quick to debunk this stereotype: "No, you're gonna sit on a couch and be high and think a lot and be hungry," Baker said. "You're not going to go crazy."
Baker gets his marijuana [the same way almost every seller gets his marijuana]: "I talk to somebody who talks to somebody who gets it."
If he doesn't worry about the marijuana itself, does he worry about contamination as it passes through these many hands?
"Laced? That never happens. In that case, you specifically ask for that, and you pay extra. I know it's going to be good because I trust the source."
Baker does not believe his life will mirror the popular television show Weeds, which features middle-aged adults who are marijuana users.
"The only reason it works is because I'm on a college campus and people want it."
And what happens after Baker graduates?
"Then I'll get a real job."
By Chris Maggio
Editorial staff
cmaggio@capital.edu
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Ksander
posted 3/10/10 @ 9:12 AM EST
I think that nothing can justify drug-selling!
bo
posted 3/10/10 @ 10:46 AM EST
Most teenagers have the same opinion that Baker has. Maybe they are right. As to Baker's person "A volunteer is worth twenty pressed men".
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