Culture - Moving up through the chain

[realitybias]

Everyone who has been involved in drugs knows about "The chain." The drug you get typically passes through many hands before it gets to you, and each time, it is sold for a progressively higher value. Those who are closer to the point at which the drug originates get the best deals, and those who are at the end level who have just entered into the drug trade or those who have never bothered to move up usually get screwed on prices and quality. So here is a topic for all of your otters, zebras, dogs, cats, and SWIMming goldfish... What are some good strategies for someone with many middlemen hookups to move up the ladder? What about someone with only a single friend supplier? Or what about those small-time growers wanting to expand their business? Everyone's dogs and cats are trying to move up the ladder, so it will be interesting to get peoples take on this.

Reputation Comments on this post:

very good thread , thanks , swim will add to it later.

[razorwiredildo]

making friends is a good way, but not really the most realistic. Swim prefers not to move up the chain because for him it would involve getting his hands dirtier than he wants to.
but doing business or favors for certain people can improve ones position.

[sknkv2]

You have to meet the right people to get you into the game. Either that or pull a scarface.

[I<3Salvia]

Swim disagrees with razor just a wee bit. It's sometimes quite easy and rewarding to make friends with bigger players in your neighborhood. Making friends is a great way to move up the ladder, but the key is to have them be friends at a distance. You may also want to think about this as when you get messed in with the larger drug dealers, or heavy hitters in your neighborhood some of them like to have their own episode of cops every week. If you're in a small town, or country area, you're safer from this but not necessarily protected. Also if you are in a small town or out in a middle of nowhere area then why not take up a few home projects if you get swims drift...

Reputation Comments on this post:

cool

[realitybias]

Home projects are tough from a rental apartment with a clause that allows for inspection, but swim knows a cat who uses online pharmacies to make a quick buck and also increase his street status. Still, through all of his supplying, he's still not moved up the chain enough to have his own constantly-in-stock source. All of his friends go make the deals for him and take his money in exchange for the drugs, probably pinching out a little for themselves. People are very stingy with their sources.

[I<3Salvia]

Clearly dude, well swim would just try to be more firm about wanting to meet the guys that are selling him what they're selling him. If these guys are truly your friends than they should be willing to allow that, if not, they are screwing you over, and they're not truly your friends. Swim would also recommend getting out more, hit some of the major parties around, talk, but more so listen. You can find out a lot of drug sources at crazy parties, and generally the crazier, usually the more substances, and more substances means more sources. Hell even some drug dealers promote themselves at parties (however swim kind of discourages this unless you have a good exit strategy). Hope this helps.

[realitybias]

Therein lies the problem. Swim's cat know sthat his "friends" are sort of not really his "friends" (He has non-drug friends that he completely puts all his trust in, so it is not like he's friendless or anything). He knows that they are in it just like every other cat in this small town trying to make a profit. They make money off of SWIMs purchases, and thats simply understood. If SWIMs cat jumped the chain, then they would lose money because of it.

Thing is, though, these guys are all SWIMs cat knows that can get him what he wants sometime.

Even worse, there are not very many drug parties in his cat's small town. There are places where people smoke weed and stuff, but people dont go around advertising that they are dealers. LSD should not be xx dollars a hit, weed should not be xx dollars an ounce, but that's what SWIM is paying without any way to move up.

[I<3Salvia]

Hmm, last thing swim can think of at the moment is the round about approach. When you're hanging around your "friends" and they are getting ready to make the call, listen to if they mention the name of the person they're talking to, or see if you can find the name by some other means. Then as swim comes from a small town himself, he would find himself in the car with his "friends" a lot while getting whatever they were getting the stuff. If you know you won't be able to go with them, then take them. Try and be cool about it, you don't want them to be suspicious or potential drama could happen. Then you'll know the name and the place. Simply wait till that person is out of town, or busy/unavailable, swing by that area, tell them that you are "bob" and are "joes" friend, and were looking to score some ? . Don't know if any of the info swim's given you so far has been helpful, swims just trying to help you brainstorm and think of possible logical options.

[crackcityrocker]

Originally Posted by I<3Salvia

Hmm, last thing swim can think of at the moment is the round about approach. When you're hanging around your &quot;friends&quot; and they are getting ready to make the call, listen to if they mention the name of the person they're talking to, or see if you can find the name by some other means. Then as swim comes from a small town himself, he would find himself in the car with his &quot;friends&quot; a lot while getting whatever they were getting the stuff. If you know you won't be able to go with them, then take them. Try and be cool about it, you don't want them to be suspicious or potential drama could happen. Then you'll know the name and the place. Simply wait till that person is out of town, or busy/unavailable, swing by that area, tell them that you are &quot;bob&quot; and are &quot;joes&quot; friend, and were looking to score some ? . Don't know if any of the info swim's given you so far has been helpful, swims just trying to help you brainstorm and think of possible logical options.

while that can work, swim has known a few dealers that wouldnt appreciate that very much. in fact one of swims dealers got angry with him once because swims friend did just this. its not necessarily a bad idea (especially if swiy isnt worried about his middleman friends getting pissed) but there is a small chance it could blow up in swiy's face (losing your connect, getting a gun waved in your face, etc.)

[doggy_hat]

Originally Posted by I<3Salvia

Hmm, last thing swim can think of at the moment is the round about approach. When you're hanging around your "friends" and they are getting ready to make the call, listen to if they mention the name of the person they're talking to, or see if you can find the name by some other means. Then as swim comes from a small town himself, he would find himself in the car with his "friends" a lot while getting whatever they were getting the stuff. If you know you won't be able to go with them, then take them. Try and be cool about it, you don't want them to be suspicious or potential drama could happen. Then you'll know the name and the place. Simply wait till that person is out of town, or busy/unavailable, swing by that area, tell them that you are "bob" and are "joes" friend, and were looking to score some ? . Don't know if any of the info swim's given you so far has been helpful, swims just trying to help you brainstorm and think of possible logical options.

Where SWIM comes from, that's an easy way to get a drug dealer really pissed at you. Having random people, a dealer doesn't/barely knows showing up asking for drugs will get them paranoid. after all, what they are doing is illegal and they prefer to be discreet. SWIM once knew a dealer who sold ridiculously good bud, so good that he constantly had people he didn't even know calling him up because every customer told other people about how great his weed. He soon stopped selling, not even to close friends.

And easy way to find good dealers is definently going to big parties, big parties tend to attract the better dealers. SWIM once used to be at the very bottom of the ladder, buying mediocre bud for stupid prices, and rarely having access to anything else. Once he went to a big stoner party, there he met a dealer that sold weed for over twice as cheap as his old dealer and had regular access to other drugs SWIM had been seeking for years.

Although I don't know anybody that has done this before, but I'd imagine putting SWIY on the top of the ladder by becoming a supplier, by growing or cooking drugs Would be quite affective. You could start off dealing to SWIY's dealers, then their dealers, then you meet one of those dealer's friends, that can get you a different drug for cheap, that you can then sell to lower down dealers.

Also you'd be surprised at how much drug prices can vary between even relatively small distances. For example SWIM has moved recently, where he used to live it took about 2 years just to have a steady hookup for weed. Where he now lives(about 60 miles away) He had anytime access to weed, coke, meth, heroin, painkillers, mushrooms, acid, anything, in less than a week. Also all prices where he now lives are significantly lower than they were where he used to live. Drugs are generally just much more available, and used. Ironically one of the factors for this move was that SWIM's parents wanted to move to a place where there were no drugs.

[realitybias]

You've been a great help man. My cat actually has tried your most recent idea once, with some limited success.

[rocksmokinmachine]

Make connections in other towns, cities, or countries where drugs are cheaper and better quality.

Drugs are probably some of the cheapest and best quality in Europe in Rotterdam. Why you might ask? Because it home to one of the biggest shipping ports (Europoort) in Europe, and it a transit point for most of the drugs entering the rest of Europe.

[realitybias]

Thats a great idea too, but lets go back for the people that are unfortunate enough to only have one connection (unlike my cat). They don't really know how to "make new connections" without getting shot by walking into the ghetto.

[I<3Salvia]

Is swiy going to college? If not, why not start, or at least hang out around college people. Swim didn't believe how hooked up you could get within a couple weeks of going to just a community college. People who go to college generally are more civilized also, so they're focused on making a their dreams happen rather than ripping you off by being the middleman. Also, if you have a good ability at making friends with women, they are some of the best friends you can have when comes time to get hooked up, especially if they, "love you". Swims not recommending using women, he's saying that they can be a lot more loving to your needs as far as connections, especially if they're hot, since most dealers hate to see good lookin women sober. Hell swim even knew a chick who was a big time dealer. Just make some friends man, trust swim, the ghetto's not where you're going to improve your status in the ring, specially in life.

[realitybias]

Good good. You're full of really great advice, man. So a character in a short story that I am writing did something that he felt greatly improved his status. The big dog in town was who my character's friends were going to to get weed. They would then be the middleman and sell to my character, pulling a bud or two out in the process. Recently in the story my character acquired some xanax and some lsd, two things that "the big dog" did not have, nor did his friends. The way the story goes, his friends instantly wanted to start profiting off of it, but instead of selling it to them, he made a business deal with the big dog, therefore jumping the chain.

[I<3Salvia]

Very nice story. Swim has one question though. How did your character go about getting in touch with the big dog so he could bypass his "friends", and get straight to the big league?

[realitybias]

His friends had called this guy using his phone once, and he's had it saved ever since. Up until this point in the story, the character never had the guts.

[~lostgurl~]

This is not a good idea, a sure way to lose friends and get a bad reputation. It's also disrespectful. Make your own contacts, don't jump on someone else's when they have their guard down and trust you too much. This is just my opinion, each to their own, sometimes you have to look out for number one but you'll feel better about yourself if you look out for others at the same time. Its a doggy-dog, druggy-drug world out there, one of the reasons SWIM stopped using.

[bloot]

Making friends higher up the chain can be a great benefit depending on how one would choose to live their life. Associating with them should bring great paranoia if SWIY is using or is ever in possession of an illicit substance. If one is high enough up the chain they should worry about possible investigation by the Feds, them seeing SWIY with these people could possibly branch out an investigation on you. Also being involved in unwanted and possibly life threatening drama from rivals or just pure dumbasses. It is very risky to involve yourself in this. But if one already lives their life like this then go on ahead and move on up the chain. It is very risky but could also be very beneficial in hookups for more than just dope.. Hell if one is with the right people they could get anything they need.

Reputation Comments on this post:

mhm

[Lettish]

My friend has wondered this before. He contacts his friends who contact their friends and he thinks the chain is huge. He would just love to have a solid connection with a pharmaceutical company or the like, but knows this is pretty much impossible. He just does not know where else to look to get higher. Being right at the bottom proves a problem in obtaining, it can take a long time.

[((NeVeReVeReVeN))]

the key to getting up in the chain is meeting people. if your with swiy friends when they buy some goods just talk to the seller for a minute ask a few questions, such as- "so what kind of strain is this?" or "so do you ever get any blah blah blah?" then before the seller dips off just be like "mind if i hit you up for some good sometime?" dealers usually dont have a problem getting new buyers. then after a few meetings for some substances ask them if they have any friends that sell anything else. (assuming that a dealer has other dealer friends) then they might give you a number for another person who sells what you want. just repeat the process and meet new people. SWIM is trying to find some people that know where to get some R.C.'s but these are a little harder to find on the street in the U.S. but yeah just talk to everyone, ask questions about drugs, people who do drugs like to talk drugs.

[moda00]

SWIM has always encountered the higher ups by chance, and casually started a conversation. Being a female seems to help quite a bit. But with or without this going for you, it helps to be friendly but discreet- don't mention drugs by name or come across as a braggart- show that you can be trusted. This is easier to do if you actually are a discreet and trustworthy person- kinda hard to fake. Then, the higher up will often initiate the closing of the "deal-" ie. "get my number from your friend here and feel free to give me a jingle," or maybe he gives it to swiy directly. Dealers always want more clients, and guys (sorry for the stereotype) generally want to be around attractive women. So it all works out. Plus, if swiy brings them business- ie. pick up for swiy and swiy's friend, they start to see swiy as an ally and may throw swiy better deals and trust swiy more- ie. if they're out, they'll be more willing to send swiy to their person, or if they usually sell by smaller bags, they may be willing to sell to swiy by the gram. One more tip- always be good on your promises. Don't borrow money and forget to pay it back. Go above and beyond- if swiy has dope and swiy buddy doesn't, hook them up and the favor will be re-payed. Sometimes it doesn't work like that- know who you can trust- but if you build a rep for swiyourself as someone who is trustworthy, swiy will have easier access to the higher ups. Best of luck!

[Matt The Funk]

SWIMS personal opinion....don't try going up that ladder too fast without someone helping you keep it stable....in other words...you might need some form of "back up" a crew, etc...or you might get hurt...sad thing too.