Jailed for Weed: How a Single Mom Became a Drug Dealer to Support Her Son

Miss Understood with Rachel Uchitel

This episode of 'Miss Understood' features Karly Cramer, a single mother from Scottsdale, Arizona, who turned to marijuana delivery in 2009 to support her son after being laid off

Key takeaways

Jail served as a catalyst for Karly's personal transformation and advocacy work.

Main topics

Single motherhood and financial hardship
The criminalization of marijuana

Notable quotes

"I don't really have guilt for what I did because it's weed and it wasn't hurting anybody. But I have tons of guilt when it comes to my son."

Conclusion

Karly Cramer's journey from a struggling single mom to a marijuana dealer and then to an advocate

Transcript preview

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The Brighten uses cockatoo palm, one of the richest natural sources of vitamin C to help give my skin that brighter, more even looking glow without feeling harsh. And finally, Illuminate is their vitamin C glow oil. It absorbs beautifully, doesn't feel greasy and gives my skin that healthy luminous finish. Speaker 1 (1:10) you've been seeing. What I really love is that these aren't four random products. St. Joe is designed for them to work together as one simple, consistent routine. It's everything your skin needs and nothing it doesn't. Of course, if you've recently had a procedure, always check with your own surgeon before introducing any new skincare. And if you haven't had a procedure, what are you waiting for? Go to shopsaintjoe.com and use the code GLOW for 15% off. That's shopsaintjoe.com and use code GLOW. at checkout. In 2009, Carly Kramer was a struggling single mom in Scottsdale trying to figure out how to pay her bills. Then somebody told her you can make money delivering weed. You mean you're just like delivering? Speaker 1 (1:56) weed all day. I wouldn't do that. So Carly took essentially everything she had, flew to Northern California and made her first purchase. It cost me $6,600. It was everything I had and it gave me six pounds of weed. And somehow it worked. I brought home $150 and I was like, okay, I can do this. One delivery became repeat customers. Repeat customers became other delivery services. And the little side hustle started growing into something much bigger. I started selling Speaker 1 (2:25) weed to the other people in my community who had delivery services. At some point, you're ultimately moving thousands of pounds of marijuana. My son went in my closet to get something. He was a mom. There's an uncomfortable amount of weed in your closet. But Carly had always been waiting for that moment when it would catch up with her. The thing I was most paranoid about was they were going to arrest me and they were going to put me in the news. You're driving with 100 pounds of marijuana and $22,000 in cash. Yes. But when Carly talks about what she regrets today, it isn't really about the weed. I don't really have guilt for what I did because it's weed and it wasn't hurting anybody. But I have tons of guilt when it comes to my son. I put my son through a lot of stuff and a lot of worries. Then something happened Carly never expected. Speaker 1 (3:09) She says going to jail became one of the most important experiences of her life. It was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. It like opened my eyes to what we do to people. They don't need jail. They need help. When she got out, Carly couldn't forget the people she left behind. So what started as an idea for a documentary turned into a new mission, telling the stories of people still sitting in prison for marijuana. Speaker 1 (3:34) There's people doing hard time, even life sentences for weed. Some of those people doing life sentences are first-time offenders. One man Carly advocates for was Parker Coleman, who was 24 years old. He was sentenced to 60 years. He has spent the whole entire time at a federal penitentiary where people are dying and being stabbed weekly. And while marijuana laws have changed across America, Carly says people like Parker are still waiting for the system to change with them. From the moment I walked out of that jail, like, I've never really been the same. This is the story about how a single mom became a weed dealer and how jail changed her life and why she now spends it fighting for the people who have been jailed for weed. Speaker 1 (4:21) Carly, I'm so excited that you're here today on Misunderstood. Thank you for joining me. Rachel, thank you so much for having me. I'm really happy to be here. So Carly, paint the picture for us of 2009. In 2009, I was living in Scottsdale, Arizona, which is where I'm born and raised and still live to this day. I was a single mom. I had a nine-year-old son and I did not have... any help from his dad. And I was, you know, just, I was struggling and I was young. I had my son when I was 18 years old and I was just, you know, I would say I was just struggling, but my, you know, my son, he was healthy. He, he was a good kid. You know, it didn't cause me problems. So in 2009, he was 12 years old, right? Am I getting the date? Speaker 1 (5:18) Um, in 2009, he was nine because he was born in 2000. Okay. So he was nine years old and you were a single mother. Had you always been a single mother? Yes. Okay. So you had really raised him. I mean, yeah. Yeah. For the most, yes. And you were living in suburban Phoenix. Phoenix. Okay. Yes. In Phoenix. In Scottsdale, Arizona. And tell me what kind of jobs you had. I was at that time I had just been laid off work. I was a paralegal and I was working at a law firm that did personal injury and I had just kind of been laid off. And I, you know, I was just doing odd things. I was bartending. I was serving. You know, I had different like little side hustles like eBay, whatever I could do just to get my bills paid. Right. Speaker 1 (6:10) Right. It was just you and him. So who was watching him? I mean, listen, I was a single mom from when my daughter was, I guess, like one and a half until I just got married again. So I just got remarried and she's basically 14. So I was a single mom for most of my life. And, you know, that is hard. That is hard supporting yourself, supporting your kid, trying to get your kid through school. So like who would help you when you were having all these odd jobs and different hours? So I have very supportive parents and I, um, up until recently, my parents lived less than a mile from me. Oh, wow. Um, so like. Speaker 1 (6:48) I was a single mom, but there are single moms that have had it way worse than me, if I'm being real honest. Like I had a lot of family support. In fact, I would not have been in those early years if I didn't have the type of family support I had. I would. There's just no way. Right. Like looking back at it. So in that in the as far as like babysitting or like picking up from school. those types of things, I had a lot of family support. Yeah. Oh, that's great. But financially it was, you know, you were really struggling and trying to figure out what you were going to do to make a living to support you and your son. Right. Yeah. That's, that was different. That was on me. And you know what? It was, it was, it was hard though. I will say now when I, I often think when I'm at the grocery store and stuff, like Speaker 1 (7:43) I never could have done what I did then. I mean, it's getting hard. And when I look at single moms now, I'm like, Oh my, it's even harder. Like, you know, but it was so, it was hard. And you know, there, I didn't have any financial support from his dad. I've never, I never received child support. Um, and I couldn't count on him. Like if my son was sick, you know, can you come pick him up from school? Nothing like that. Um, he showed up here and there, but. there really was no support there. Yeah. So now I'm curious, what was your relationship with weed up until this point? Are you somebody that smoked it? No, no. Okay. In fact, like I, I do eat gummies at night even now, but I, um, and you know, I just had this thyroid thing. And while I was going through that, I was eating like a lot of gummies, but even now that that's over, I still eat them at night, but no, I was never a. Speaker 1 (8:40) I was never a. I mean, like a huge pot smoker or anything. Oh gosh, no, absolutely not. So how does a suburban single mom going go from bartending and being a paralegal to all of a sudden saying, Oh, listen, I'm going to, I'm going to get a side hustle as selling drugs. Well, well, it started like, um, I, I had, I knew a guy that I've known since childhood and he had moved up to Northern California. and was growing weed. And I knew this girl in LA and she had started a delivery service and she told me about it. And I knew that I had him and I was like, you mean you're just like delivering weed all day, like running ads and, and, and you're kind of working your hours. And she's like, yeah. And she told me about it. Speaker 1 (9:35) And I'm like, I want to do that. And she let me talk to her about it. So you thought at first it was like just being a delivery person. Yeah, because that's really all it was. I mean, it's still to me, I'm like, that is all it was. Right. So. And what was the state of. Um, where you like, I'm not a pot smoker, so it's hard for like, I don't know the rules. So back in this 2009, it wasn't, it was legal if you had the marijuana card. Is that what the issue? Okay. And like all States had different, different rules on that. But yes, if you had a medical marijuana card, then you could, um, go into a dispensary or you could carry around an ounce of weed and you would. Speaker 1 (10:22) It was legal, but you had to have that card. Okay. And to get the card, a doctor has to say you need it for a certain reason. Yes. Okay. And as your friend being the delivery service person, was she working for a marijuana center, like a medical marijuana center, or she was like a drug dealer delivery girl? So she was in California and she was working for this guy. And he was like, he just had. I mean, I don't know. See, Florida, they have I know you're in Florida. They're behind a little bit. Yeah. But yeah. So she was working for this guy who had had this delivery from like 98. And it was legal and it was recreational in California. OK. They didn't need medical cards over there. And she was just like, you know, they answer phones and then they send me out to, you know, wherever it is. And and I deliver it. And I'm like, well. Speaker 1 (11:17) I couldn't do that, you know? And I'm like, like, we need, you know, I had to learn, I had to ask around and, you know, find out what the kind of like the rules are with the card. And then I learned about the card and I went back to her and I'm like, um, you know, can, can you help me? Like, where do I advertise? Like, how, how do I do this? And she was like, here, you know, you, it's like you go to weed maps and you put an ad and it's really that easy. And I was like, okay. So to back up, I called this guy I know in Northern California who was growing weed. And I was like, look, can I, can I come buy some weed from you? I'd like to start a delivery service. And he's like, no, you can't, you can't do it. Like you'll never do this. Speaker 1 (12:05) And he was like, you're just not, you know, you're not, you're not built for this. Like, he's like, you're not, you can't, you're, you don't know what you're doing. Like, you're never going to do this. So I went, I drove out there and, uh, or actually I flew out there and I rented a car and I, and I. I'm just going to start. It had Kentucky license plates. And as soon as I get to him, he's like, what are you have Kentucky license plates? You're going to Arizona. You're driving through California. Like, what are you doing? And I'm like, oh, so I had to go back and tell him something was wrong with the car. So they would exchange my car out and give me California license plates. And so I did. Speaker 1 (12:49) And I went back and he was kind of like mean, like, he's like, I don't want to do this. Like, you know, I know your family, like we've grown up together. Like he, he's like, but here, and he's like, and you're wasting your money. So pause there for one second. So you had to put money out to get into the business, right? So you had to actually buy the weed from him. Yeah. He did not front me the weed. bought it from him. Okay. So how was that first transaction? I guess. How, how much did you buy? And did you even know what you were doing? It was so much money. It cost me $6,600. It was like everything I had. And it gave me six pounds of weed that, that it wasn't that much, but it was everything. And it was so scary to me. That was like, in the scheme of things, that is not a lot of weed at all, but it, what it is when you don't know, you're like, Speaker 1 (13:45) And so he I remember like sitting in his kitchen, he was being so mean to me. And he was like, wiping it down with alcohol. I mean, he did put a lot of care in how he packaged it and stuff. And, you know, he drove, he lived on a mountain, he was growing weed on a mountain, he drove me down the mountain and like dusted off my car like he he's like, so it didn't look like I was up in the hills, because that's something at that time they wouldn't look for. And he's like, Carly, like, you know, just like, I mean, he was so mean to me when I look back at it and he did not want to do it. And he's like, and you're wasting your money and this and that. And so I. Speaker 1 (14:26) I drove home and I kept it in a closet. Like I was so scared. I didn't want to do it. So you drove from California back to Arizona. Yeah. Okay. Stopped in San Diego. I spent the night. And then. And in the meantime, hold on. Are you, if I had, we, if I even had a, what do you call them? A doobie? Yeah. A joint. The joint. If you, sorry, again, I'm not a pot smoker. It sounds so stupid. If I even had a joint in my car, I would be so scared that somebody was going to pull me over. You know what I mean? So you have $6,600 worth of pot in your car and you're staying in a hotel. Like, are you so nervous you're going to get pulled over for any reason? I'm so scared. I'm going to get, I'm going to, they're going to pull me over. I mean, so. Speaker 1 (15:08) I'm even afraid and it's like in a duffel bag and I'm bringing it with me because it's everything I own in life right now. I'm bringing it in with me into a hotel and I'm afraid like the people at the front desk can tell I have this in the suitcase. Like it, you know, yes, I was terrified and I was terrified to even have it. So I, and then I drove home. I, and I was. I ran and I ran these. So I drove home, I put it in a closet, right? And immediately I ran these ads to deliver my weed. Like you put them, it's called a menu. You put it up on weed maps, you put your prices up and you say what it, what it is. How did you know that they obviously told you what to do for prices and how much? I didn't even know how to weigh out weed. Like I had to call this guy and. I had to like, and he was so irritated with me. I can't, if you knew, if you know this guy too, like. Speaker 1 (16:10) you know how sometimes like amazing chefs are just really are total assholes or like, he's like an amazing grower and he is a, he is an asshole. Like I, he, even to the, I just saw him. And if you know, he, I've known him for 30 years now. Like he, he is an asshole and he, he's like so irritated with me. And he's like, you mean you don't, you shouldn't be doing this if you don't know how to wait. Like there's. I bought a jewelry scale to weigh out, to weigh my weed out because I was too like weirded out to walk into like a head shop to buy a normal scale. Right. And so I, you know, I didn't know what to do. And so I'm weighing my, you know, weighing my weed and I keep it and I run. So I have my little menu. I know how to roll my, or I know how to package my weed. I know how to weigh it now, but. Speaker 1 (17:05) And I run my ads and I start getting phone calls, but I'm too nervous. Like, I'm like, I know the first time I do this, like they're going to pull me over. Like, so for like two or three weeks. Wait, and were you nervous that anyone that was calling was a cop? I was worried they were a cop. I was worried that I'd get pulled over driving. You know, even if even if it was the legal amount, I was just I really was paranoid. And the thing I was most paranoid about was. They were going to arrest me and they were going to put me in the news. That was like my, and my, and everybody would know because at that time, really nobody knew, like nobody knew except my friend in LA who taught, told me about this. And then this guy in Northern California. Right. And are you still bartending on, on the side when you started this? Um, so at that time, which is so weird, I. Speaker 1 (18:00) believe I just had a little