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.