Dimebags vs. Dispensaries: Street Dealers to Multi-Million Dollar Weed Startups

In 2016, VICE met business partners in Atlanta who had a dream of getting into the legal weed business, but couldn’t see a way to take their illegal grow off the streets. Two years later, the entrepreneurs—Felix and Kingston—are now running Gas House, a successful legal weed company in Oakland whose products are sold in dispensaries across California. In an industry home to a small number of black business owners, Felix and Kingston have become pioneers inspiring others to leave the underground market behind.

VICE met up with the duo to learn more about how they market their products, and the legal requirements they had to meet to transition from the black market to an above-board operation. Then we talked with dispensary owners, locals, and cannabis entrepreneurs about the access and inclusion gaps in California’s legal weed industry—and what companies like Gas House are doing to close them.

Watch the Weediquette episode “Going Legit” on Hulu: https://vice.video/2MradCz

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50 Comments

  1. Matthew Demange on July 8, 2021 at 8:20 pm

    Ct is next. Hit me up . We need to be the ct gas house.



  2. Marcus Rhodes on July 8, 2021 at 8:20 pm

    I want to be apart of the team id love to work with u all as a black man we need opportunities such as learning teaching and caring for our beautiful medicine ✌🏿I’d love too speak with someone about this more serious



  3. Ben Stiffler on July 8, 2021 at 8:21 pm

    gashousee



  4. Guerilla brosゲリラ兄弟 on July 8, 2021 at 8:22 pm

    I’m not even black, but I vibe so hard with this. being black is pretty much like being anything other than white in western societies. pacific islander, Mexican, Samoan, Maori and even Filipino I’ve heard are treated the same way. I guess the only difference in the hoods here is you get beaten to death instead of shot and everyone is twice the size of the average man.



  5. docteroperation on July 8, 2021 at 8:23 pm

    I love it



  6. bio hoof on July 8, 2021 at 8:29 pm

    Was so wholesome and interesting and then gotta add the racial tinted lense over everything smh



  7. Thomas E. on July 8, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    Have you two guys of Gas House ever consider opening a branch of Gas House in Missoula, Montana? Montana has just gone STATE Legalization for Medical and Recreational!



  8. Lloyd Culpepper on July 8, 2021 at 8:32 pm

    watching this in 2021, I needed the hope that this video contains. I wonder where they are now



  9. The Roots - Product Reviews on July 8, 2021 at 8:32 pm

    We had it in our dispensary. It was Just okay. I never bought any, the smell never attracted me. It looked beautiful and had the bag appeal but lacked the terps.



  10. HAPPNiiN on July 8, 2021 at 8:33 pm

    For a minute I thought that guy in the thumbnail was Richard Ayoade from The IT Crowd



  11. TheUrbaninventor on July 8, 2021 at 8:34 pm

    #Dope episode…



  12. Roy Rutledge on July 8, 2021 at 8:34 pm

    I want his weed



  13. Hoàng Lê on July 8, 2021 at 8:35 pm

    Toang rồi ông giáo ạ



  14. bookreaderson on July 8, 2021 at 8:35 pm

    Plant real trees. To help the earth. Rather then just take from it



  15. Lowbvll on July 8, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    Oakland ca? Or GA?



  16. On Pursuit on July 8, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    Any producers using that intro?



  17. Reseyfrmthego on July 8, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    this video gave me so much motivation to start mines ik it’ll take time ik i might have doubters but imma do it 💯 it’s something i love , they say do what you love 💪🏽



  18. SaddAm GuRu p ① on July 8, 2021 at 8:42 pm

    Good luck Michael looks awesome!! That ending was epic kon kon dak rhay hit like [ VICE ] Like kon kon करेगा शेयर जरूर करना



  19. Fredrik Winsløw Mathisen on July 8, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    im dying xD 9:00 the guy with the hoodie on. xDDD



  20. Meghan McShan on July 8, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    I love to see my kings 🤴🏾 winning! When yall coming to Illinois!?



  21. HazeBuster on July 8, 2021 at 8:44 pm

    this is legit my dream what that guy have made outta nothing!



  22. Ricky Nino on July 8, 2021 at 8:45 pm

    I’m up next



  23. Alex Radilla on July 8, 2021 at 8:45 pm

    Close mouth don’t get fed if you ain’t hear about it then I suggest you do yo research don’t wait for no one to hand you a plate because I guarantee you’ll be hungryb



  24. Stonerman15 on July 8, 2021 at 8:47 pm

    It’s still illegal here



  25. Jimmy on July 8, 2021 at 8:48 pm

    K



  26. Rob Harrison on July 8, 2021 at 8:50 pm

    If every one smoked weed we wouldn’t need to fight wars we would have smoke offs 😜



  27. Gordo 773 on July 8, 2021 at 8:50 pm

    Crazy how much everything changed in two years I can’t imagine their net worth Now!💯



  28. Gr8 Poseidon on July 8, 2021 at 8:50 pm

    It’s not the “Black Market!” We’d like to be considered the “TRADITIONAL Market!” 🤣



  29. C Green on July 8, 2021 at 8:51 pm

    Can I clean my record for sales from the 1990.



  30. DreJarvisTV on July 8, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    “SMOKE WEED EVERYDAY” 😎🌲🔥💨



  31. Delusive Shotz on July 8, 2021 at 8:53 pm

    3:40 this is the kind of man i wish ran all businesses. that mind set worth gold



  32. a blazed Rose on July 8, 2021 at 8:53 pm

    ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤



  33. NoName718 on July 8, 2021 at 8:54 pm

    You know what’s crazy? He prob made more in Atl lol



  34. piuho piojp on July 8, 2021 at 8:55 pm

    8:05 is that dog face 208?



  35. Emile Edhouse on July 8, 2021 at 8:56 pm

    if i had a business like this and had growers helping me i would make sure its a mandatory rule that the workers can choose a plant that they want to keep as long as they baby the rest of the plants as if they where there own then they can keep the plant when its about to get into harvest (so they can have there own harvest of this good bud)



  36. Reseyfrmthego on July 8, 2021 at 8:57 pm

    my son name is kingston lol



  37. Icarus .Productions on July 8, 2021 at 9:02 pm

    Love seeing Black businesses thrive



  38. Bob Anderson on July 8, 2021 at 9:02 pm

    Cracklady on telegram is the best plug for all kinds of pills and marijuana strain I just got my pills delivered 🔥



  39. Dagwood Chat on July 8, 2021 at 9:03 pm

    This is my first dab. Then immediately sits down. Lol.



  40. Pork Chops Official on July 8, 2021 at 9:03 pm

    Dimebag Darrell fans is like : yoooo dime on vise



  41. Sly Gucci Pharaoh on July 8, 2021 at 9:05 pm

    Can someone please tell me if he has a Facebook or Instagram or anything to contact him off so I can buy



  42. Brian Koffi on July 8, 2021 at 9:13 pm

    These guys were lucky enough to have the upfront money to get things started. It takes around $2 million to get started in the legal cannabis business and that figure will be going up soon.
    Also expect things to change as more folks get in on the legit end of cannabis. Just like with the casinos the competition is going to be tough.
    The street sellers are going to have to keep their prices below what the retail stores are asking. That should not be too difficult.
    I remember when the daily lottery pick numbers came out. The street number guys responded with better payouts. Some of the underground sports gambling bookies have done the same thing.
    Offer a better deal and they will survive … But for once the consumer comes out the winner with all of this ..



  43. Ezequiel Reyes on July 8, 2021 at 9:14 pm

    Great Interview. 😊



  44. Franz _ on July 8, 2021 at 9:15 pm

    12:52 can somebody explain??



  45. Katilyn Almeida on July 8, 2021 at 9:16 pm

    Legalization isn’t going to make everything easier. It’s all about the control.



  46. PlayBoyHustlazTV on July 8, 2021 at 9:17 pm

    Hemp and marijuana were made illegal due to the papermill companies hating wanting to monopolize the market



  47. max kulmer on July 8, 2021 at 9:17 pm

    They sell packs for fucking 10k a pop…



  48. Missa Del on July 8, 2021 at 9:18 pm

    i pray many blessings over homeboy, so hard to go from black to legal!!! gotta give him props!!!



  49. Michael, Lane on July 8, 2021 at 9:18 pm

    And there still selling on the black market tho



  50. sno86 on July 8, 2021 at 9:19 pm

    i just thought he had the mask on because of corona