Detroit

Law Enforcement

Detroit police were said to focus more on selling than on small personal amounts. One informal estimate was that seven times out of ten a stop under an ounce ended with police taking the weed, dumping it or putting it on the hood before sending the driver off. Other times they even handed it back. Some visitors described White people getting more scrutiny in the city and Black people getting more in the suburbs. There were accounts of tickets for suspected loitering in a trafficking area and stricter suburban enforcement.

At a 3 p.m. Tigers game, a ticket scalper called another man over for a US$20 bag in a crowd. A one-hitter on Comerica’s smoking deck and smoking in a Hilton room also passed without anyone reacting in those encounters. Michigan has since introduced regulated adult use, as covered in Marijuana Laws.

Where to Buy Marijuana

East of downtown, Seventh Mile near I-75 was one of the recurring leads. Some people drove the one-way streets a block west, with Omirah named as especially risky and Andover as an alternative. Seventh Mile near the Lodge was another option, with sellers in the side streets mostly carrying nickel and dime bags. Along Eight Mile near Southfield, people talked to others at gas stations. Fort Street liquor stores from downtown to Lincoln Park, Schaefer Highway near I-75 and Warren Avenue off Southfield Freeway also came up, sometimes near a basketball game. A seller might wave another person over or ask someone to circle the block.

People new to Detroit could get lost quickly. Safety varied by street, particularly at night, and some locals preferred paying extra in the suburbs.

Marijuana Prices

• Regs: US$10 for a blunt’s worth or US$10–15 per gram, with one quote offering 2 g for US$10. Eighths were US$20–25, quarters US$25–45, half ounces US$50–60 and ounces US$80–150. US$100 for an “onion” was a familiar benchmark.
• Larger amounts of regs: US$250–500 for a quarter pound, US$600–900 for a half pound and US$1,000–1,500 for a pound.
• Hydro: US$20 per gram or enough for about one blunt, US$50–75 for an eighth, US$100–150 for a quarter, US$200–250 for a half ounce, US$350–450 for an ounce and US$1,200–1,500 for a quarter pound.
• Purple Haze: roughly US$60 for two blunts’ worth or US$800 for an ounce. Blueberry: US$500–700 for an ounce. Gaun: US$25 for a blunt’s worth or US$500–600 for an ounce.

Types of Marijuana

Regs ran from heavily seeded dirt weed to good flower. BC bud, hydro and seedless green beasters with orange hairs all came up. Named strains like Purple Haze, Bubble Gum, Gaun, Blueberry, Trainwreck, AK-47 and White Widow were around with the right connection, and premiums cost more.

More Information

Open cash and unfamiliar houses were two things people avoided. A friend who accepted a smoke was told it was the good stuff and later learned it was a “51er.” Some preferred to stay in the car and drive off when something felt wrong. Others simply told visiting friends to skip the street scene. For a better memory, there was a blunt followed by a walk to Greektown for some chronic food.