In high school Marissa's* close friends began smoking marijuana. As their habit progressed, they began choosing to smoke over hanging out with her.
""I was the only one out of my girl friends that was okay with it. Junior year, I guess, curiosity got the best of me,"" Marissa said.
She invited three friends over after school to teach her how to smoke marijuana out of their pipe. As she leaned against the oak tree behind her house, her friend packed the bowl, lit it for her, told her when to suck in and to hold it for three seconds.
""Your throat feels like there's a campfire in there,"" Marissa said.
Marissa didn't get high after the first bowl.
They went inside and smoked in her bedroom. That night, she threw a small party. Three other friends invited Marissa to get high in their car. By her fourth bowl of the day, Marissa finally got high. She felt relaxed and on a different level than the rest of the world.
""It was a really quick progression after that,"" she said.
By the following summer, Marissa was smoking everyday. She said her smoking was also a rebellion against her parents more than anything.
""It never crossed my mind to deal it at all. I had gotten my really good guy friends back and ... that's what we did together,"" she said.
Now a UW-Madison senior, Marissa has been dealing marijuana and various other drugs since June 2006. In that time, she has made a substantial profit.
""When I realized how much money I could make doing it, I realized that I could pay off my tuition and not have any student loans ... when I graduate,"" she said.
Marijuana use is a common illegal pastime of many adolescents, but few believe their habit could one day lead to an addiction, much less a career. UW-Madison is host to many small-scale dealers, with a minority of large-scale dealers spread sporadically around campus. They manage hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars a week yet lead quasi-normal college lives attending classes, working and participating in extra curricular activities.
The business in Madison
Travis*, a UW-Madison senior and recently retired drug dealer, began dealing in his early college years to support his marijuana habit. He started small, dealing in eighths of an ounce. But he profited little from this so progressed to larger amounts and other drugs before retiring in the summer of 2006.
""Sometimes it's hard for you to even find weed and sometimes people don't think it's good enough,"" Travis said of Madison's market. ""[They will] go over to another person with better pot than you.""
He said he considered growing his own marijuana to sell at one point so he could cut out the middleman but said it would be time consuming and too expensive of an electric bill.
Different times of year offer different possibilities for profit, according to Marissa. Right before a harvest, the supply goes down and many dealers stop dealing temporarily. After a harvest more dealers re-appear, and established dealers start losing customers. Additionally, there are times during the school year students do not buy, such as midterm and finals weeks, but the following week business usually shoots up.
Looking to get ahead in such a competitive business, Marissa recently made a deal for someone to grow the marijuana for her to assure a consistent supply..
""I bought him a light that will make the plants produce more. It's like a $400 light,"" she said. ""He's just going to give me everything that he gets and we're going to split the profit.""
For most dealers, growing marijuana themselves is not an option, thus they must use an outside source to supply them.
When it comes to such outside sources, the city of Madison is in an interesting situation, according to Detective Bruce Carroll of Madison Police Department's Dane County Narcotics and Gang Task Force.
""We are actually situated right between major metropolitan areas and we have freeways that connect us to all these major metropolitan areas, so [drugs] can come from almost anywhere to here,"" he said.
Carroll added Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Iowa as possible places drugs are being transported from and that the place of origin depends entirely upon the drug.
Carroll described UW-Madison students' drug use as a concerning issue.
""From my experience, what we have on campus are not the high- level dealers,"" he said. ‘Some are, and we know that there are some on campus that do this and that's how they make their living and actually get through school. But I would say the majority of them are not.""
He said the task force is aware of large-time dealers right off campus who dedicate themselves explicitly to providing to students.
""We just generally don't see large- time dealers on campus, we see it being transported to campus to be sold,"" Carroll said.
Although roughly 227 pounds—about $872,546—of marijuana was confiscated in Dane County in 2005, Carroll emphasized marijuana is not the largest threat.
""Coke is probably the predominant drug here, but as far as threats go, heroin is making a rise,"" he said.
According to the Dane County Narcotics and Gang Task Force 2005 Annual Report, drug charges increased 10 percent from 2004 to 2005. Marijuana-related charges decreased by about 15 charges and cocaine was decreased about 30 charges while heroin increased by about 20 charges.
Clientele
Although dealers are looking to maximize their profits, they also must consider to whom they deal to in order to keep their identity safe from officials.
Travis had a close call when a friend was busted at his summer job and Travis narrowly escaped the same fate. He was keeping a quarter pound of marijuana in the trunk of his vehicle while at work. During his shift, Travis heard there were officials outside busting his friend and there was possibly a drug dog on the premises. The marijuana in Travis' trunk could be smelt by anyone who entered his vehicle, so he was frantic the dog would smell it instantly. He said he never saw the dog but didn't want to risk anything by sticking around.
""I'd be screwed,"" he said. ""They would have taken me to jail and I would have been in there for 10 years or so, I don't know for sure.""
It kept racing through Travis' head how close the officials were to his vehicle. He gathered up his things and left in the middle of his shift without telling his boss.
""It was nerve-racking walking up to my car with the cop only 50 feet away talking to my friend,"" he said.
Travis quickly entered his vehicle and left the premises. He never wanted to feel that way again. Too many people at work knew for him to feel comfortable anymore. At that point he decided to get out of the business while he still could.
Not all dealers experience such close calls, but the risk is always there.
When Marissa started dealing, she took over a friend's clientele and has since recruited new customers through her regulars' friends.
Marissa stressed how uncomfortable it made her when friends of clients would arbitrarily stop by her house looking for drugs.
""I'd rather people bring their friends over with them. Let me meet them first a couple times, and then they can come over [on their own],"" she said.
She described her clients as high class and often UW-Madison students or friends of students.
""Most of the people who can afford that kind of stuff are richer kids whose parents probably pay for their schooling,"" she said.
""Any drug dealer would probably deny [the power trip], but they like it,"" Travis said. ""Like being a big balla with a lot of cash. It's like being the man that knows where shit is. It's something that makes you proud.""
When Travis began dealing, he said he looked for people in the same position he was in a year ago. ""I sought a couple people I knew would be interested,"" he said, adding how almost everything occurs through the grapevine. This same grapevine prolonged his retirement.
""You tell people you're going to quit but they keep calling when they're in a situation where they can't find anything, and I was always Mr. Nice Guy, so I'd go and find them [drugs] anyway,"" he said. Travis believes one has to be greedy to be a successful dealer.
Time commitment
In his first year of dealing, Andrew*, a former UW-Madison student, failed two of his high school classes because he skipped school to either sell drugs or get high.
""I'd say selling was more harmful than the drug itself,"" he said. ""[I was] too young to handle the drug addiction at the time ... not physically [addicted] but definitely psychologically.""
Andrew said he would often skip his math class before lunch or his French class at the end of the day because he felt no loyalty to attend school if he was keeping up with his homework. He failed French class because of his attendance record, but he legitimately failed his math class.
""A lot of times I would already have shown up for class and a friend would show up at the door and I would leave to join [him to get high],"" he said.
His friend would place his thumb and index finger to his mouth imitating smoking and Andrew couldn't resist leaving. He would gather his things and head to the door, regularly being asked by his teacher where he was going. Backpack and jacket in hand, Andrew told them he was going to be right back but would never return.
Just as the unforeseeable addiction consumes the dealer, separating bags and being at someone else's beck and call are often overlooked time commitments.
Marissa said, ""They don't really care if I'm sitting at home waiting. I barely ever get to take a shower when I want to because people will tell me they're stopping by that day and so I won't take a shower because I'm afraid they'll come when I'm in the shower.""
Even when sick, Marissa makes sales because she doesn't want to risk losing customers.
Marissa began buying ounces of marijuana for about $300 and profited about $100 per ounce by selling each ounce in eighths at $50 a piece. She escalated to buying quarter-pounds of marijuana for about $1200 and was even buying half-pounds for a while.
""I'd get rid of that in about a week, [but you] don't make as much when you sell just an ounce,"" she said.
Marissa estimates she profits $500 per week from dealing and that in six months she has profited about $10,000. Travis estimated he profited $300 a week while Andrew estimated $200 when they dealt.
""For a while there, I thought I would do it forever as a long-term career,"" Andrew said.
Thinking he was living a life of luxury, Andrew spent his disposable income on a computer, glass pipes, movies, meals twice a day for two years for himself and his girlfriend, and various other things.
""[I was] just pissing it away thinking I could make it forever,"" he said.
Consequences
""I had a vague idea of what the consequences would be,"" Andrew said.
""I don't know, but I think it's probably a felony [depending on how much you have]. It would probably be jail time,"" Marissa said.
""I'm not sure. [I] think it is 10 years in prison if you have a quarter-pound on you. I think a pound is definitely 10 years,"" Travis said.
No dealer knew the exact consequences.
After four years of dealing, Andrew found out first hand.
In late fall of 2005, Andrew was busted by the UW-Madison Police Department for possession with intent to distribute for less than $200,000 in Ogg Hall during his freshman year at UW-Madison.
According to Andrew, UWPD officers had been patrolling the Ogg towers where someone had already been busted for cocaine possession.
""I had a feeling I was in a risky situation but I had redoubled my efforts as far as hiding the stuff, and the police just happened to show up the one time I had brought it out of its secret area. It was just real bad timing,"" he said.
Andrew said he refused to allow the officers into his room when they knocked on his door but agreed to speak with one of the two officers in the lounge. While he was in the lounge, his roommate remained in the dorm room and spoke with the other officer.
""He's obviously got valid information and specific details about me selling drugs. Beyond that,"" he said, ""it's all hearsay.""
Following his talk in the lounge, Andrew and the officer returned to his room.
""[I] thought all was well and it was a close call and I would retire."" Upon returning to his room, the other officer informed Andrew she had discovered his paraphernalia and money stashed in his drawer.
""They didn't put me in handcuffs right away. They were polite enough to do that,"" Andrew said.
The police searched the room, did not find the drugs stored in Andrew's loft and escorted Andrew to the squad car. While in questioning, officials asked Andrew if he wanted to give up anyone else's names to save his college career—Andrew refused. He was left in a holding cell for five days before being released.
Andrew had been primarily selling marijuana, cocaine, pharmaceutical pills, hash, mushrooms and anything else in the drug market to which he didn't morally object.
""For my charge, the maximum I would have gotten was 3.5 years in jail and a $10,000 fine,"" Andrew said.
He was lucky he got off easy, but there would be collateral consequences to follow.
He said that, for any drug charge, financial aid will be revoked and landlords are given the right to evict them.
""Now that I'm a felon, I can't work in the medical field, I can't work in financial institutions, I can't work around older people or younger people under the age of 18, I can't possess a firearm, I can't vote, I can't get a passport or a visa to travel to another country ... I can't hold a public office, I can't work in most state-run facilities, and so on and so forth, these things they don't really publicize. Most people don't find out about them until it's way too late,"" Andrew said.
During his jail time, Andrew had no contact with the university.
""I started communicating with the residents ... and they were discussing throwing me out,"" he said. Andrew met with the resident advisors to discuss whether or not he would be removed from Ogg. ""All I was trying to do ... was get a straight answer as to whether I needed to get a lease within the next two weeks, because obviously that's a short time to be getting an apartment. They would never give me a straight answer,"" he said.
Soon after, Andrew was removed from residency and moved into an off-campus apartment.
He later received an e-mail stating he would be suspended from the university for one year.
""[I] could be in school right now, but I chose not to because I'm working right now still paying off my fees from my lawyer,"" Andrew said.
Despite the consequences Andrew faced, the state of Wisconsin does not have an official chart defining specific drug-related fines. Although the federal government has minimum mandatory sentencing guidelines, Wisconsin, and more specifically the MPD Narcotics & Gang Task Force, takes each instance case by case based on the individual.
""All depends. Do they have prior records? What did we find? How much of it did we find? What got us to that person? Do other people tell us this person dealt so much?"" Carroll said.
Marissa said she got into the business with the intention of paying off student loans and graduating without debt. She now aims to profit enough to purchase a new vehicle and then retire from the business following the summer of her graduation from the university. To hide her financial stability from her parents, she plans on taking out a loan and paying it off gradually to avoid suspicion.
""I'm hoping to be getting a real job and moving somewhere, to another state. Then I can completely brush it off and it will be completely gone,"" she said.
Marissa will miss making money so simply and wishes she could put her experience on a job application because she has learned so much about the business world. She said she has always been good at saving money and being a dealer has enabled her to branch out. She became better at financially supporting herself and learned techniques about advertising, organization, efficiency and supply-and-demand.
Although Marissa fashions herself a shy person, she said the business has taught her to be assertive but also to compromise to make a deal so that everyone is happy with the outcome. She said learning business techniques first-hand was an advantage as opposed to learning them in the classroom, forgetting them and not knowing how to apply them in the real world.
What Marissa won't miss about dealing is the stress and the constant feeling that she is being dishonest to her parents.
""It's definitely a secret I'm keeping from them and I feel kind of bad about that,"" she said. She won't miss having little free time, either.
Marissa hopes to take her experience as a drug dealer and apply it to a certificate in business so that she may one day own her own counseling service.
*Certain names have been changed at the wishes of the sources.
