[music playing]
[ding]
INTERVIEWER: (VOICEOVER) One of the big players in that world,
someone I'm told moves more than a million
worth of product daily, has agreed to meet me--
well, kind of.
INTERVIEWER: OK, we ready?
GEORGE: Yep.
So I'm currently in an empty room and in front of a table
with nine pounds of all sorts of different kinds of weed.
George, I'm just explaining what's
happening to the cameras.
Because it feels really weird that it's just me here so
I'm just explaining.
GEORGE: Yep.
INTERVIEWER: (VOICEOVER) George didn't
want his actual voice recorded.
George is actually out of view.
He didn't feel comfortable being on camera,
but he can hear me because of my mic.
INTERVIEWER: (VOICEOVER) So we're using a voice changer
that alters it while he speaks.
If I were a buyer, I would come in here.
You'd have all these bags out here
with the different samples.
They'd look at it, smell it, possibly try it, smoke it.
GEORGE: Some will smoke it, but it's really just,
you know, based off the smell, mainly
the smell, then the look.
And then they place orders.
Is that it?
GEORGE: Yep.
INTERVIEWER: (VOICEOVER) On the table
is a variety of high end exotic indoor and outdoor weed.
Each pound bag costs between $2,000 and $4,000.
What's the largest order you've ever received?
GEORGE: I mean, they'll go up to hundreds of pounds.
INTERVIEWER: (VOICEOVER) Just one order that size is
worth around a million dollars.
INTERVIEWER: How much money is there
to be made in illegal weed?
GEORGE: Oh, endless, endless amounts.
I shouldn't really be talking about this to someone
for camera.
INTERVIEWER: (VOICEOVER) I decide not to push it.
So George, you operate just a black market business?
Or do you operate also a legal business?
GEORGE: Licensed as well.
Licensed as well.
If you were to give me a general sense of how much money you
make with your legal versus your illegal business,
what would you say?
GEORGE: Well, technically, I haven't made profit
off my legal business yet.
Wow.
GEORGE: They try to kill you with fees,
taxes, regulations, hoops to jump through, inspections.
They go 10 times overboard than any other business.
I wish for them to do the same regulation
to an alcohol company.
So why operate a legal business if you're not
even making money out of that?
GEORGE: For the love of it.
Why do artists like to paint?
Or why does a singer like to sing?
I roll with the punches now and just hanging in there
so that big business doesn't just take
all the original people out.
You know, you don't feel comfortable with even
being in the same room.
Why do you think there's so much fear and mistrust?
GEORGE: It's kind of ingrained in our culture.
You can't really trust people.
And that just comes with money and greed.
And when people are greedy, bad things happen.
Do you carry a gun?
GEORGE: I have guns.
Robberies happen left and right.
In a situation if you get robbed,
you really have no choice but to use it.