A Candid Conversation With a Weed Plug

There are lots of easy ways to score an ounce these days (Claw operated by Kevin Curtin / Photo by John Anderson)

In modern discussions about cannabis legality, we often hear the term “black market” used as a pejorative, but I still hold it in high esteem.

In 25 years as a consumer, I’ve largely participated in the black market, and I believe it operates with no less integrity than most American industries and it’s probably more fair to the consumer. I mean, we’re talking about reputation-driven independent businesses, dealing in an agricultural product, of which the picky clientele values quality, freshness, and naturality. Basically it’s a farmers’ market ... except technically illegal.

I reached out to the proprietor of a referral-based delivery service that has a professional menu, high-quality products, and fair prices – and asked them to participate in an anonymous interview. The following is a candid discussion about selling weed in Austin.

Austin Chronic: Last night, I made a friend playing basketball at the park and he told me to holler at him for $100 ounces. What do you think is the general price of an ounce of weed in Austin right now?

Weed Plug: That’s kind of a loaded question because any product or good’s value is going to be determined by the market. With Oklahoma coming into the game and giving everybody a bunch of cheap weed, $100 ounces has become the standard for weed that looks good, but doesn’t really smoke that great or taste like anything. So I think, for an okay outdoor/greenhouse ounce, maybe even indoor from an unestablished place, $100 is a fair price.

There’s three things, though: Weed’s got to look good, smell good, and taste good. With a $100 ounce, you’re not getting two of those things – not at that price point. It might look good, smell okay, and just taste okay. That’s how it goes. It’s not going to taste as good as some sun-grown, outdoor Cali would. And the Cali weed’s not going to look as good as the indoor Oklahoma stuff. So it’s really about what metrics you’re buying on.

For me, somewhere between $180 and $210 (an ounce) is what you’re going to pay for really good weed in Austin right now.

Austin Chronic: Good weed used to be so expensive in Austin. When I moved here, 16 years ago, ounces were solidly above $300. I remember my manager at Jimmy John’s sold $400 ounces and I’d be like “who the hell pays that?” Then a year or two later, when Colorado first decriminalized, prices started to come down. But the fact is, great marijuana in Austin costs half as much as it did 15 years ago. That’s something to be happy about.

Weed Plug: I think we should also throw out the metrics here. I’ve seen ounces of weed in California go for $1,200.

Austin Chronic: You mean pounds.

Weed Plug: No, an ounce. One fucking ounce!

Austin Chronic: Oh, of like Holy Grail weed?

Weed Plug: Right. From some hype brand. It’s just to say that, ultimately, the price of the weed is dictated by what people will pay for it. But in my personal experience, for hydro, good indoor weed that’s been taken care of is going to be about $180. For good indoor soil weed, it’s going to be about $210 because it just takes a lot more work and doesn’t yield as much, but it tastes better.

Austin Chronic: How scared are you about the potential of going to jail in Austin for having a bunch of weed or selling weed?

Weed Plug: Currently, not very. Partially because of the political climate, but also because the city has told the police not to enforce low-level offenses and we’ve seen other cases in Austin that show a general friendliness towards the subject. So, currently, I’m not super worried about that, but, honestly, I don’t think anybody should have to be worried about going to jail for a plant. Shout-out to all those guys who are still serving time for this plant, man. To be watching the world become significantly more accepting of weed while they’re in jail for the tiniest amount is horrible.

Post-COVID, it’s very relaxed. Pre-BLM marches and everything, it was a different story. We would be worried about transporting weed or smoking in public, I wouldn’t be talking to someone unless they knew someone I knew – that type of shit. After COVID, it’s a different story, man. The climate has changed.

Austin Chronic: I think it’s been slightly more gradual than that. Congressman Greg Casar led a policy shift towards ticketing for weed in 2018 when he was on City Council, then led a successful decriminalization effort in 2020. Our city is a healthy example of representative democracy in that regard. The great majority of people here are against cannabis criminalization so we’ve elected judges and Council members who share those values and we get rewarded with this environment. Now, Williamson County is a different story.

Weed Plug: WilCo is still doing stuff like that. Not as much as they used to, but they still fuck with people out there. I personally hesitate to meet people anywhere outside Travis County. We live in an oasis. For me to go outside of that area increases the risk.

Austin Chronic: You used to have to worry about getting pulled over – “I smell marijuana, get out of the car” – and maybe go to jail that night. Zero percent chance of that in Austin today.

Weed Plug: Zero chance. I mean you can smoke openly on the street. You could have bought it at the store ... or the gas station.

Austin Chronic: When I think of traditional peer-to-peer weed sales during my lifetime, you’d expect the plug to have between one, two, maybe three strains of weed. Now, businesses like yours have extensive menus with dozens of flower options, plus even more inventory in hash and vapes and edibles. Is this just people getting smarter at business?

Weed Plug: That’s the way you know the weed industry ... because you’re older. There’s a whole new generation of kids who grew up on Instagram, on the internet. You weren’t engaged with social media as much as the young people are. When they get on there, all they know is “my buddy has a menu and he posts weed pics and that’s what I expect from this kind of thing. If I follow a dispensary, they’re going to show me what their new products are and what they’re doing.”

It’s not different from anything else they see on social media platforms. So it’s evolving into a new thing and the expectations are ever evolving too. But the kind of thing you’re talking about with the menu, people got exposed to dispensaries and legit weed through their travels, or they came from a place where it’s legal, so they’ve been exposed to those options and they want something familiar. “Do you have product XYZ? That’s what I usually get at home.” That’s what people are trying to emulate. And you have to have media for every product because obviously people want to see it. But social media also gives me access to people (in wholesale situations) I never would have met otherwise. It’s changed the dynamic of the customers and the wholesale and distribution side of it.

Austin Chronic: How many forward-facing weed delivery places do you think there are in Austin?

Weed Plug: So look, I couldn’t tell you the exact number. I don’t know and, to be honest, I specifically make that not my business. We’re here. Everybody is doing their own thing. It’s best to just do your own thing with your own people and work with people you trust and references from people you trust. That’s still the state of where we are at right now. As far as the delivery services, I could count like five or six right off the top of my head that openly advertise.

In California, there’s a lot of dispensaries, but there’s way more delivery services. So I would venture to guess that there are a lot more delivery services than dispensaries here, but how many? That are willing to put their name out there that hard and anybody can figure out what they’re doing? There’s a lot more that are quieter where you still need to come with references.

The name of the game a lot of the time, in California, is you see these weed delivery services get really big and then end up taking some payments and disappearing. Once it gets too big or too known, they burn the ship and start over again. Or maybe they take the money and run. To answer your question, there’s probably a lot of them.

Austin Chronic: Can I get weed from you right now that is as good as the more premium weed in Denver?

Weed Plug: Yes. You can get weed from me that’s from Denver if you want. And to that point, I’d like to say the weed you’d often find at a dispensary is never going to be as good as the best black market weed. Period. Because they can’t pay the kind of money that weed demands. On the best weed, the most sought after, the margins are not going to be good. What often happens is this guy has a very limited amount and he only works with so many people and it’s gonna be this much and it’s gonna be a bunch of money. Do you want it or not? Because there’s 20 more people in line after you. That’s kind of what dictates the price.