A good friend of mine is a mom with two kids and she sells weed in a state in which it’s still illegal. Before you begin your judgment (I’m sure some of you find it morally wrong and punishable), I’ll tell you that she has already rehashed your thoughts in her head. She knows the dogma that runs deep in the world, and she’s not flying her hemp flag with pride.
She had kids when she struggled through school, working a minimum wage job; selling weed was the only good thing she learned from a boyfriend she had long ago. Just like most profitable businesses, the drug the is male-dominated; she’s told me about the disrespect she’s endured being female. But her customers are loyal and sane family people, and she leads a simple life. She said she’d stop after her kids entered school, but the income was impossible to give up. With weed, she’s able to buy her kids health insurance, piano lessons, art supplies, and the occasional vacation. She says the threat of prison is worth not letting her kids go without medical care. Frankly, I’m okay with that logic.
She’s definitely no high-roller; she uses the job to be with her kids every day and see them grow up. She doesn’t have to miss their formative years, as do so many parents. That said, she knows someday she’ll have to talk to her kids about what she has done for work. Honesty can lead to some strange reactions, I told her. I’ve learned that one the hard way.
I wish she lived here, where marijuana is legal. I’m uninterested in it, but I don’t believe people doing it is morally wrong. It relieves pain and gives pleasure in this crazy world. I’m grateful for what it gives to my friend’s family, even if she leads a double life. Like many of us do, in so many different ways.