Isn’t It Always The Case That You’re Forever Waiting Around For Fresh Direct?

Another week, another feature about the illicit drug trade*:

In a city in which residents are accustomed to delivery services ranging from groceries to laundry, some, like Ricky, have discovered the convenience and safety of having drugs — namely marijuana — brought directly to their doors. “I’ve never bought pot in New York any other way,” says Ricky, who has lived in New York City for more than eight years and who has used a variety of delivery services for the past six. With such to-your-door services, the privacy of the exchanges appeals to many clients. The chances of getting caught, clients think, are also much lower.

. . .

Some of the drug delivery services are large, intricate networks of deliverymen on bicycles or on foot. Others, like Zachary’s, are smaller operations run by a single person. “I prefer smaller delivery services now, just a one-man team instead of the bicycle team both ‘Fresh Direct’ and ‘Cartoon Network’ [street names unrelated to the actual companies] use,” Molly says of the city’s larger services, the latter of which has been shut down. Fresh Direct, she says, not only uses the name of the grocery delivery service but also uses its logo on its business cards. “I like seeing the same guy over and over again instead of guessing who it is the other two will be sending.”

. . .

Like Ricky, direct delivery is the only way in which Kris, another client, has obtained marijuana while living in Manhattan. At a rooftop party with stunning views of the midtown Manhattan skyline on Saturday night, he talked about an order he placed that very day. Usually, this 31-year-old doctor says, he orders for friends when they are visiting from out of town, and Saturday was one of those days. There is always a selection of items — like northern lights or purple haze — and he says the products come in vacuum-sealed containers.

“It took them more than two hours to get here today,” he says with slight exasperation. “Sometimes they don’t show up at all.”

“That’s the thing about dealers,” says Ricky. “You really can’t rely on them to be punctual.” Ricky himself has waited an average of 45 minutes for a delivery but says it can be as little as 20 minutes or as much as two hours. “It comes with the package.”

Despite the wait, Ricky, like Molly and Kris, is a devoted fan of the services. “You paid for the comfort, you paid for the safety, and you paid for the trust, and that’s that,” he says. “It’s a good thing.”

*What is this — “write what you know”?