Pubdate: Thu, 28 Feb 2008
Source: Athens News, The (OH)
Copyright: 2008, Athens News
Contact:  http://www.athensnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1603
Author: Mike Ludwig, Campus Reporter

OU STUDENTS - STRONG MARIJUANA EASIER TO GET THAN BEER

(Pseudonyms were used for every source in this piece,  since they're
talking about and engaging in illegal  activities.)

Ohio University students say that potent marijuana is  easy to find in
Athens, but it's not always cheap.

"It's just really easy to get good weed here," OU  undergrad Chester
Copperfield said while using  marijuana with three friends during an
interview on  Tuesday.

Copperfield and his friends estimated that 75 to 80  percent of OU
students use marijuana at least  occasionally.

They claimed that it usually takes the average  dorm-dweller about 20
minutes to find pot on OU's South  Green, where "it's easier to get
than beer."

"All the people I know who buy a lot of weed know  people around
town," Copperfield said.

"Tee" is the pseudonym used by an OU junior who lives  near campus and
admits that he sells marijuana to a  clientele of college students. He
boasted that his  product would be considered top quality in other
cities, but is the norm in Athens.

"Around here, it's very average bud, but really, it's  not," Tee said
last week. "It's almost hard to get rid  of."

Tee described the marijuana he deals as seedless,  potent and
"fluffy." It also doesn't cause fatigue,  which an often undesired
effect of marijuana. The  street name he uses for such marijuana is
"nuggets."

An ounce of nuggets can cost $300 to $400, and Tee  normally pays
$350. He sells 1/8 ounce portions for $50  each.

Tee said he has sold both indoor- and outdoor-grown  marijuana, and he
suspects that most of it was grown in  or around Athens and Meigs
counties. Indoor-grown  marijuana has a strong odor and can be very
potent.  Outdoor-grown marijuana is heartier, greener and often
smells like hay.

OU junior Kert Diggler is Tee's roommate and a fellow  marijuana user.
He said that quality weed is so easy to  come by in Athens that it's
hard to sell small amounts  for recreational use.

"The market is so flooded with people who smoke pot  that it's so
easy, it's hard, you know?" Diggler said.

Diggler claimed that some well-known strains of  marijuana, such as
Strawberry Cough and Lemon G, have  been available in Athens this winter.

He believes that these designer strains were probably  brought in from
Meigs County, Cincinnati or Columbus.

Both Tee and Diggler admitted that there are much  cheaper
alternatives to the kind of high-grade pot they  sell and smoke.
Commercial grade marijuana, commonly  known to students as "mids" or
"shwag," is not as  potent, fresh or flavorful as the nuggets that Tee
and  Diggler are used to, but it's normally more than half  the price.

OU undergrad Bob A. has occasionally sold and smoked  commercial-grade
marijuana since he moved to Athens two  years ago.

He said that a 1/8 ounce bag of the stuff usually costs  $20 or $25,
but he has seen it go for as low as $15.

Bulk buyers normally pay between $100 and $140 per
ounce.

Bob A. said that commercial-grade marijuana is often  sold in "blunts"
at parties where people are looking to  score weed. Blunts are cigars
shells filled with  marijuana, and can go for $5 to $15.

Using, possessing or selling marijuana is both against  the law and
the OU Student Code of Conduct. Depending  on the amount possessed or
sold and prior offenses, it  can result in expulsion from the
university and or jail  time.
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MAP posted-by: Derek