Cannabis legalization appears to be around the corner in North America, but the truth is that for billions of people marijuana will remain illegal for decades. Large swathes of Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa are all stubbornly opposing cannabis and even its medicinal properties. If you happen to live or travel to one of those unlucky countries, you will have to resolve to illegal buying of weed, on the street. Here we have a few pointers:
Ask the locals for help
This might seem like a no brainer for the more extroverted readers, but when you are in a new country, It’s usually a good idea to ask the locals for weed tips. They will know where you can get it and what kind of quality or price is normal. You will also be surprised at how friendly people are and how many of them actually smoke weed. All of that being said, weed talk should be thought through. Some countries, like in the Middle East, are very conservative and weed is not at all tolerated, and bringing it up to a random person on the street is a bad idea. You can totally ask an Italian or a French person to help you score but think twice about it in Iran.
Be careful with dealers
If you have never bought weed illegally, from a dealer, you might not know what to expect. Many of the street selling dealers rely on an ever-changing customer base of tourists and do not care about selling you good stuff at a fair price. They want to rip off tourists and know that they won’t see you again and there is very little chance you would want the police involved in an altercation while buying weed. So, you need to be firm with street dealers, stand your ground and haggle. Generally, they will give you an inflated price and assume you’re too anxious to negotiate, but a little back and forth is guaranteed to save you money.
Double-check what you are buying
This relates to the previous point, but the dealers that are selling weed on the street often try to rip their customers off. In many of the touristy European cities, it is not uncommon for dealers to sell baggies of grass, as in normal grass from a lawn, for 10 euros a gram. By the time most tourists open it up, the dealer is gone and so is the money. You should always ask to see and smell the cannabis you are being sold, to make sure it really is cannabis and that the quality is not too bad. However, don’t expect too much from street weed, it’s generally quite bad.