Kid Cannabis: The Wild Rise and Violent Fall of a Teenage Weed Kingpin

Pot. Weed. Grass. Marijuana. In our society today, weed has become very prevalent. In Mark Binelli's Kid Cannabis article, he interviews the men behind a huge drug dealing operation in Idaho.

I would classify this text as an interview article, because it gives direct quotes from the real people involved in this operation. Think of any classic tv interviews you have seen, but in text only. That is exactly how this article is set up. The kind of vibe I get from this text is very informative and personal. We are hearing from a real person's point of view how they were able to pull off an $18 billion operation. This article does not shy away from talking about the bad sides of drug deals as well, making it very authentic and honest. I do not believe I am really a part of the intended audience for this text, however one could argue this text is meant for everyone. I have no interest in running my own drug dealing operation or anything like that, but it was very interesting to learn about it from a first hand experience. I do not think this text shuts out anyone, as any reader could learn from it or find it interesting. I think the main goal of this text was to share a very surprising story about how these regular guys from Idaho suddenly became wealthy drug dealers. I really think Binelli just wanted these guys voices to be heard. I think what prompted this text was the case and trial of everyone who was involved. This article was published in 2005, and the Kid Cannabis trial happened in 2004. The speakers of this text are the men involved in the story (Nate Norman, Topher Clark, Ben Scozzaro, and the many other people involved). I feel like an important message or takeaway that I had from this article, is don't bite off more than you can chew. Obviously, I have no future plans of carrying out a drug operation, but I feel like all of the men in this article wish they would've just quit while they were ahead. However, greed and power drove them to keep making the operation bigger and bigger, attracting more and more attention to themselves.

I throughly enjoyed reading this article and think you will too!