Omar Buddakey estimates he saves the equivalent of a paycheck each year by buying his weed on the black marketOmar Buddakey emerges from a nondescript building in Los Angeles with a joint in his hand.
Buddakey's working-class neighborhood in east Los Angeles is teeming with stores like this one, many marked by a green cross.Unlicensed cannabis stores sometimes display a green crossInside one of them, a man who gives his name only as"Joe" welcomes a steady stream of customers who are offered a selection of buds and leaves."Cops have raided this shop probably eight to 10 times," he tells AFP."They take the weed, our cameras and all the cash.
The legal business is struggling. In 2022, sanctioned cannabis sales fell 8.2 percent to $5.3 billion. Each city or county has the final say in whether to allow the sale of recreational cannabis on its turf. As a result, less than 40 percent of them have given the green light. His lavishly decorated, herbalist-like dispensary offers everything from home-grown plants to ultra-potent cannabis concentrates, from gummies to drinks.