"Virgil Grant is just so credible where it comes to this issue, that (with) his background, he could just give us direct insights into a segment of that culture, and I think it’s been very valuable," Wesson said. "No matter how many times Virgil has been knocked down, he seems to get back up. Since then he’s been busy, reopening marijuana shops and helping to shape marijuana laws in L.A., working closely with City Council President Herb Wesson.Īndrew Cullen for KPCC Marijuana samples and paraphernalia line the walls at Med X, a dispensary in Westmont that Virgil Grant owns on Friday, Dec. "And I knew where I was going with this." "You have to have faith in what you do and who you are," he said. And again, decided to return to the industry. He was sentenced to 72 months in federal prison in 2010. He was charged with "one drug conspiracy count, four counts of aiding and abetting the distribution of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school and four counts of maintaining a drug-involved premises within 1,000 feet of a school," according to the United States Attorney's Office of the Central District of California. After a protracted legal battle, and a second round of raids, Grant took a plea deal. Shortly thereafter, federal agents in tactical gear with weapons raided his six stores and his home. Until one day, at his store in Compton, he looked out front to see a burgundy Jeep parked on the street with people sitting in it. With his already established distribution network, he built up six shops across Southern California by 2008.Įverything was going well, he said. And my first few days in that shop I made $200 to $300."Īndrew Cullen for KPCC A magazine featuring Virgil Grant on its cover is displayed along with other marijuana industry publications in the waiting room of Med X, a dispensary in Westmont that he owns, on Friday, Dec. And I walked away from that to open up a shop. "I was actually making more money on the streets," he explained. Grant saw an opportunity to take advantage of that. This time, he decided to go legit, since California had legalized medical marijuana in 1996. He went to prison for a year, but was drawn back into the industry when he was released. "You kind of just sit back and you take the ride whether you want to or not." "It’s kind of like OK, this is where it’s going," he said. The police searched his car and found the Samsonites. Things went well for him, he said, until 1999, when he got pulled over in Mendocino County, right after picking up a shipment of product. "Nine times out of ten, they would get pulled over."įor years he transported marijuana in suitcases from Humboldt back to Compton, becoming a wholesaler of the drug to those in the neighborhood. "If someone of African-American descent was traveling through those sticks and hills in Humboldt, they would kind of look out place," he said. Knowing that the marijuana was pungent, he’d double wrap it in plastic and stick it in two airtight Samsonite suitcases in case he got stopped by the police. He’d make his way to the middle of the forest, park down on the side of the road and hand his contact $80,000 for 35 pounds of weed. "Once I bought my first quarter ounce and I sold it so fast, I bought another one … it just started going and I never looked back."Įventually, he connected with growers in Northern California, driving north from L.A. "I begin to bag that up into 20 bags and begin to sell that," he said. It was there that he learned the ins and outs of business, buying his first quarter ounce of weed from a Rastafarian man who, he said, espoused to him the healing powers of marijuana. I didn't need anything taking my focus away, so I did not drink or smoke," he said. So, me working at a liquor store in Compton, I needed to be very focused. "We're talking a lot of shootings and killings over drugs, gang violence, and the riots. and stayed close to home to help his father run his local liquor stores. He grew up in Compton, went to Cal State L.A. Grant's been in the industry since the 1980s. Andrew Cullen for KPCC Marijuana mogul Virgil Grant poses for a portrait at Med X, a dispensary in Westmont that he owns, on Friday, Dec.
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