I was a female dealer

In Aberdeen, drug dealers are ten-a-penny, and generally subscribe to the male stereotype.

But MJ is a bit different – MJ is a girl.

Like many student dealers, she started dealing in her first year while living in Hillhead. She said: “Drugs are everywhere, so it’s naive to pretend it doesn’t happen, or not to talk about it.

“I saw a gap in the market for good weed at a reasonable price.

“I chanced upon a dealer at a party. We got talking and he mentioned he sold bigger bits of much nicer stuff for much better prices, I think I got really over excited.

“He lived on the other side of town to Hillhead and I guess I just saw the opportunity.”

Time to stock up

Although MJ was one of several dealers at Hillhead, she reckons she was the only one to battle the stereotype. She claims there’s a lot of male bravado in the industry: “Women aren’t seen as being strong or able to defend themselves- but for me that was the advantage.

“No one came to me with threats or violence as I’ve heard among a lot of my male counterparts.”

For MJ, her gender made her inconspicuous, working in her favour: “You are much less likely to get searched if you’re a woman. I’ve actually never heard of a girl getting stop and searched by the police in Aberdeen.”

MJ found that guys she knew were stopped by police all the time, so she was lucky. Her little tricks included hiding bags in her bra.

#hardcore

But some of her male customers didn’t expect a woman: “Quite often if you were arranging to meet someone over text you had to  specify the fact that you’re a girl.

“I’ve had people walk up and down the street past me several times. It can be quite awkward.

“Some boys will suspiciously check your weed, as though they don’t trust you to know what you are talking about- purely because of your gender.”

20 bag mate?

“But because I generally kept my dealings to friends and people in halls- keeping it fairly small- I really didn’t find that the whole gender thing affected me.

“On a larger scale though I’ve heard of some dealers who aren’t keen to supply large amounts to female dealers.

“They tend to be the dealers who have a bad reputation for violence, so I imagine its because they don’t want to have to threaten a women, which is a twisted.

“A depressing kind of chivalry, I suppose.”

Potential effects of weed

She also claims that it takes a business mind and drive to do it properly. But for MJ, her dealing days are behind her. She claims it was too easy to get wrapped up in it: “I’m in fourth year now and I work two jobs so I’ve got other priorities.

“I would probably do it again short term if I needed or wanted to, but the truth is that the longer you do it the harder it is to get out of it.

“It’s a shame there’s so much stigma around weed, I’ve met some incredibly clever people through it and had some great conversations, been introduced to some great ideas.”

And although her dealing days are behind her, MJ has some key advice for anyone considering it: “Be respectful, be sensible, and don’t smoke your profit.

“If you want to get by with the rest of your life as well you can’t let it become everything you’re about.”