Seth Rogen Reveals the Surprising Reason People Still Choose Street Dealers Over Legal Weed

Picture this: In 2024 America, you don’t have to tap awkwardly on your dealer’s window in a sketchy parking lot to buy weed—no sir, just hit up a chic, well-lit dispensary sandwiched between a pilates studio and a vape shop. It almost makes you wonder—when cannabis shops are basically the Starbucks of the suburbs, why would anyone still opt for the classic underground exchange, risky handshakes and all? Maybe there’s something oddly poetic (or just human) about clinging to the familiar. Or maybe, as Seth Rogen—Hollywood’s resident sage of stoners—puts it, there’s more to the black market’s resilience than meets the eye . Is it nostalgia, stubborn brand loyalty, or are people just allergic to paying taxes on their “oregano”? I found myself genuinely giggling at the idea of buying cheese from some mysterious dude out on the street, and apparently Seth has similar thoughts about weed these days. If you’re curious why, even with all the fancy legal options, the old-school weed guy down the block still gets love, prepare to get the inside scoop, a few laughs, and maybe even question your own shopping habits . LEARN MORE

Given that recreational cannabis use is now legal in nearly half of the states in the US, you’d think that the black market for weed might have gone bust.

Instead of meeting a street dealer in a dimly lit alley and subtly trading cash for cannabis, Americans can now simply pop to a shop to make their purchase.

Weed dispensaries are dotted all over the nation these days, so now people can enjoy the full retail experience while browsing the best smokes. However, not everyone is too keen on the commercialisation of cannabis, and contrary to popular belief, street suppliers are still going strong.

So, why do some people continue to snub the swanky weed dispensaries in favour of buying their pot from low-level dealers in a dodgy setting?

Well, according to Seth Rogen, there are ‘a few reasons’ for this interesting trend.

Seth Rogen, pictured with Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, is well known for being a seasoned smoker (X/@sethrogen)

The comedian and actor previously confessed he has been smoking weed ‘all day, every single day’ since he was about 20, while he also recently told LADbible Group that he stays a ‘little stoned all the time’, – which I’d say makes him more than qualified to discuss the topic.

He admits he has now succumbed to convenience of weed dispensaries himself, however, he continued to give his regular dealer business too for a while instead of completely ditching him.

During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show earlier this year, the host asked Rogen to share his thoughts on why the cannabis underworld continues to thrive, despite there being a legal way of obtaining it now in a lot of US states.

The Studio star believes the main reason for this is ‘allegiance’, admitting that he too felt a strong sense of loyalty towards his dealer.

“I was in this situation,” Rogen said. “I bought weed off these guys in LA, meanwhile, legal weed was kind of coming into the market – and I just felt bad for them.

“It’s like that mom and pop store that you go to and you know that without your business, they’re like one purchase away from closing every week and if you weren’t there, they would maybe close.”

The 43-year-old, from Canada, explained that he bought both legal and illegal weed ‘for a little while’, to see what all the fuss was about with weed dispensaries without abandoning his longtime dealer.

It’s a lot easier for some Americans to buy weed these days, but a lot of people remain loyal to their regular dealers (Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

“You don’t want to see them go under,” Rogen continued. “You don’t want to see them have to find a new line of work, or start selling a new type of drug. I had loyalty to the guys I bought weed with and I felt bad for abandoning them, basically.”

But it turned out he was somewhat shooting himself in the foot by sticking by his weed guy through thick and thin.

“I would go buy weed from the store and then every few weeks I’d throw the guys a bone and meet them in some sketchy f***ing place and buy weed from them,” Rogen laughed. “Eventually I was like, ‘Where do you get this weed?’ And the guy was like, ‘Honestly, we just get it at the store also’.

“I could tell as he was saying it, he’s like, ‘Oh no – I should not be saying this’. I could literally see on his face, he was like, ‘I let the cat out of the bag on that one’.”

Rogen went on to say that he believes a lot of low-level cannabis sellers got jobs at weed stores themselves, after realising they can ‘actually make a salary’ this way rather than making a living completely off the books.

The Pineapple Express star then went on to say that it is often cheaper to pick up off a local guy, rather than heading to a weed dispensary.

Pointing out it is ‘heavily taxed’, making price ‘another motivating factor’ in this argument, the actor said: “It is just cheaper sometimes. Legal weed has a lot of like regulatory hoops they have to jump through, so the price could be higher.

He then joked: “Sometimes – not my guys, because they were buying it from the store and marking it up.”

But why did Rogen’s allegiance suddenly wane?

Well, while revealing he hadn’t seen his dealers in at least ‘a decade’, the Houseplant co-founder explained: “Eventually you’re like come on, it’s legal! Why am I meeting a guy in a corner and driving around the block? It’s like buying cheese from a guy on the street.

“Like there’s no need to put myself through this anymore.”