Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, College Weed Dealer

[dkf]

We knew that 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev smoked pot — he seemed to admit as much on his much parsed Twitter account. But according to a new report, the Boston Marathon suspect was also a go-to source for marijuana on campus. Because, you know, he was a kid in college.

The younger Tsarnaev brother never went broke while attending the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth — and that could be attributed to his side business dealing drugs, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday morning. "Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a scholarship student who earned spending money by selling marijuana, say three people who bought drugs from the 19-year-old," the Globe's Todd Wallack and Beth Healy write.

Before you go out screaming about accused terrorists and their connection to Big Weed, you should know Dzhokhar wasn't high up on the drug food chain. "Several fellow students reported he earned at least some cash selling marijuana — at least the portion he didn't smoke himself," the Globe reports. From the sound of it, Dzhokhar was dealing to get a better price for his own supply — a common occurrence for heavy smokers in college dorms. There's a readily available market, and they save money, something Dzhokhar apparently was concerned about. He appears to have been earning money on the low as a pot connect.

Tsarnaev never had a lot of money while attending school, but he was never short on cash, either. On Wednesday, the Boston Herald reported that the two brothers received state welfare benefits through their parents when they first came to America, painting a picture that would imply the family was receiving little if any financial help from back in Dagestan. State benefits also helped 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev raise his three-year-old daughter up until 2012 when his wife, Katherine Russell, started earning enough as a home health aide that they no longer qualified.

http://m.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/04/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-dealing-drugs/64529/

[maddezmom]

1. Not surprising

It's not like he is the first college kid to deal weed. Wonder who his supplier was, tho.

[patrice]

2. Me too and I bet we aren't the only ones wondering that. nt

[11 Bravo]

5. It surprises the shit out of me. When I think of a stoner, "mad bomber" isn't ...

the first thing that comes to mind.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. Nickel and dime shit

Or rather, dimes and twenties.

His source bags some up for him and tells him to sell to friends. Probably allowed him to smoke for free and have a couple of throw around bucks, though not a lot. His source is probably a step up from retail, and has a few teenagers moving small weight for him.

[dkf]

4. How does this fit with the Brendan Mess thing?

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. These guys were all smokers and dealers in a small area, ultimately

They all knew each other or of each other.

As far as the murders are concerned, maybe a lot, maybe a little, maybe none. Hard to say. Neighborhood pot markets are not generally violent, as there's not enough money floating around at that level. You fuck around and you get cut off, not cut up.

I'll bet there are a thousand smokers in Cambridge that know these people, know of them, worked with them, etc. These things function precisely because they're not like random "street sales." They're all about friend and acquaintance networks.

[datasuspect]

7. DECLARE WAR ON DRUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111

oh, they already did that.