Storied investment banks have been closing shop on Wall Street and the nation’s economy is threatening to hit the worse low since the Great Depression.

But lets be honest, the market that most concerns the average Econ 101 student doesn’t have much to do with stocks. The ebb and flow of the campus marijuana supply is what to watch.

The beginning of fall semester can be a hard time for cannabis-inclined students. Your dealer graduated last spring. It’s too awkward to call your friend with the hook up after not talking all summer. You moved out of the dorms and left the guy with the conspicuously smelling room behind.

But there are also regular market forces that regulate Ann Arbor’s weed supply in terms of how much it costs, how good it is and how soon you can get it.

September is a low point for finding weed, according to several buyers and sellers of weed on campus. But these experts also assure that any shortage should be relieved by the end of October.

Weed market watchers said growers in Northern Michigan and the rural Midwest will harvest their crop right before the first frost to give buds time to get as big as possible.

“The college market is really super sensitive,” said A, an LSA junior and daily smoker. “I think part of it is the harvest — before the harvest comes in it gets pretty dry.”

While the regional harvest is one source of relief, another is the United Parcel Service.

A said a lot of out-of-state students will do some small-time dealing after receiving large shipments from their preferred sources back home.
One dealer, University graduate R, said his dissatisfaction with the weed available on campus spurred him to put in an order with a friend who grows back home in Northern California.

The pound of Strawberry Kush he received in the mail led him to his current occupation.

R said many people from his high school who went to college out of state fell into dealing the same way. Yearning for the dependable quality of Californian bud, they buy in bulk and make some extra cash off their Midwest and East Coast roommates.

The trick is to have it sent to a fake name at an address with many residents, a co-op or a frat house, and tell the sender to specify with the delivery company that a signature not be required upon delivery. The next step is to hang out at the receiving address 24 hours a day until the package arrives — but look out for a set-up.

“If somehow it does require a signature, maybe that means they’re on to you,” R said.

Engineering sophomore J, an Ann Arbor native and frequent buyer, said he resents the notion that the only good weed around is from out of state.

He said Ann Arbor has a healthy community of indoor growers producing the most potent strains, but that these veteran Hash-bashers are generally too old to sell to students.

“A significant proportion of the really good weed is grown in Ann Arbor, but by an older generation,” he said. “There’s just this older generation that doesn’t mess with us as much.”

Known to purchase in $500 increments, J said he only buys from local growers after gaining some lucky connections, including a teacher who sells out of her house 15 minutes out of town.

“Generally, the good, good weed, the people aren’t sketch,” he said.
Ann Arbor’s indoor supply is more consistent as the growing period is a two-to-three-month cycle rather than an annual season. But J said even the townie market is feeling a slump because of the effect of the summer drought on local crops.

“It’s usually bad during summer, but for the local connects ever since the Fourth of July, it’s been dry,” he said.

For the casual smoker who doesn’t drop half a grand on Sensi Star, the going price of an eighth of no-frills Chronic — or for the really indiscriminate, Mids — is the crucial question.

A said that prices have seemed higher this year, but that the harvest and out-of-state supplements should ward off price hikes.

“I’d say it’s more likely than not that prices will go down,” he said.
Nationally, the average price of an eighth of high-quality Kind Bud is about $55, according to a High Times Magazine reader survey conducted from January 2005 to August 2007.

The survey had an eighth of Mids priced at $35, with lowest-scale Schwag at $11.

In Ann Arbor, students often pay $65 or $75 for the same amount of weed regardless of quality grade. In-state smokers attest that those prices aren’t the standard rate statewide or even at other campuses like Michigan State University and Western Michigan University. Like campus realty companies and bars, Ann Arbor’s weed dealers also set their prices according to the influx of expendable income that accompanies the University’s wealthier out-of-state students.

“You can set the price really high and still find some random ass sorority girl who will pay anything,” A said.