In the UK (at least in my anecdotal experience, I know people in London, Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire) it seems there's hardly any money to be made in selling weed any more. I'm sure further up the chain there is, but at actual dealer levels (I've never come across a "street corner" sort of person, just those who either sell from their home or travel to deliver) there's very little profit available. I don't know how long this has been the case (seems to have become so much more over the past couple of years I think), and having never been a dealer myself I don't know exactly how much can be made now, or in the past.
But essentially, it seems there are very few weed dealers left, other than two types: pot-heads who sell to a circle of friends to subsidise their own smoking, or people who sell harder drugs (in my experiences: cocaine) and have a bit of weed on the side but don't focus on it.
Cocaine on the other hand... I've had friends who sell it (not in a "I became friends with a dealer" way, but just people who I found out deal unrelated to how I knew them), and there is a lot of money to be made there, even selling fairly small quantities. It's been a few months since I've had a conversation on this topic, but afaik it's still the case, even with people who sell to a few dozen people, mostly small quantities, can make a hell of a living from it.
All that said, it's possible my knowledge is from a fairly affluent middle class angle (hell, the last person I met who randomly turned out to be a coke dealer was somebody who held a decent job in the PC hardware industry, though he's stopped dealing now).
Would love to know more about the economies involved (for example I've heard rough numbers of cost for cocaine from its origin in South America to UK consumers, but not in huge detail), but it's very hard to find out this sort of information without being directly involved yourself.
I disagree somewhat, dealing marijuana is still quite profitable, even in west coast USA where ubiquitous medical/legal marijuana has driven down prices a lot. As for east coast? From what I hear, the markup is still huge, with retail prices roughly double of west coast.
The only people I know of making a living exclusively selling marijuana (on the west coast) are small-time growers, though.
You're definitely right about crack/molly, the profit margins on those are ridiculous - because what's truly valuable there are the connections.
It may be that it's different in the UK (where I am), apart from anything weed generally travels much shorter distances here. I heard from friends in one region here that after the police busted a local farm with a few million £ of weed grown there, there were a couple of months where every dealer had incredibly limited supplies, mostly coming in from Holland rather than elsewhere in the UK. There definitely isn't as much growth here as west coast USA.
Of course it's also possible that there are dealers making good money off weed here and I just haven't come across them. But my anecdotal data points are at least reasonably varied, from well off people in good jobs to a couple living off benefits in council estates.
I agree they're definitely the exception to the rule, most of that 'last mile' of going from ounces to a gram or two seems to be made up of people doing it on the side for a bit of extra money.
It does sound like the supply chain there is quite a bit different.
But essentially, it seems there are very few weed dealers left, other than two types: pot-heads who sell to a circle of friends to subsidise their own smoking, or people who sell harder drugs (in my experiences: cocaine) and have a bit of weed on the side but don't focus on it.
Cocaine on the other hand... I've had friends who sell it (not in a "I became friends with a dealer" way, but just people who I found out deal unrelated to how I knew them), and there is a lot of money to be made there, even selling fairly small quantities. It's been a few months since I've had a conversation on this topic, but afaik it's still the case, even with people who sell to a few dozen people, mostly small quantities, can make a hell of a living from it.
All that said, it's possible my knowledge is from a fairly affluent middle class angle (hell, the last person I met who randomly turned out to be a coke dealer was somebody who held a decent job in the PC hardware industry, though he's stopped dealing now).
Would love to know more about the economies involved (for example I've heard rough numbers of cost for cocaine from its origin in South America to UK consumers, but not in huge detail), but it's very hard to find out this sort of information without being directly involved yourself.