When marijuana is legalized in New York, “I expect business to be consistent, if not better,” one city-based purveyor, whose job is reminiscent of the one depicted on HBO’s “High Maintenance,” said. Photograph by David Russell / HBO

In a recent speech, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, outlining the agenda for his upcoming third term, declared his intention to fully legalize cannabis in the state—as ten other states and Washington, D.C., have already done—possibly as soon as early 2019. Echoing Cynthia Nixon, his opponent in September’s Democratic primary, Cuomo suggested that the laws against marijuana use have disproportionately affected African-Americans and other minority groups. “Let’s legalize the adult use of recreational marijuana once and for all,” he said. He did not say whether a change in those laws would affect the status of those already serving time for marijuana-related offenses, or make any comment about how the tax revenue generated by legal marijuana—likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a report published by New York’s Department of Health, in July—might be used.

Last week, I spoke with a college graduate in his late twenties who makes his living selling cannabis in New York, where he moved, from the Midwest, several years ago. He referred to himself as a “care provider,” and asked that I not disclose his real name. He worked in finance and freelance Web design and marketing before shifting to his current career, he said. He sells marijuana in varying amounts, from an eighth of an ounce to a full pound or more, and also sells vaporizer cartridges, infused drinks, cannabis edibles, and psychedelic mushrooms. He makes a comfortable income, he said, and now has a few employees, who provide door-to-door service to around two hundred customers, primarily in Manhattan and Brooklyn. He told me that he also networks at underground cannabis events in New York, which he described as similar to farmers’ markets, “but for pot.”

Stu Zakim, who runs a New Jersey–based cannabis communications firm, and has attended similar events over the years, told me that they were usually advertised through Internet meet-up groups. “It’s targeted more to the connoisseur than the casual consumer,” he said. “It’s like tasting wine at a fine vineyard.” Sirita Wright, the co-founder of a cannabis life-style media company based in New York and Colorado, said that she attended one event “that was all about desserts: ice cream, infused-caramel popcorns, things like that.” Zakim and Wright both told me that they had seen evidence of synergy between the legal market and the black market. “There are things I’ve consumed that were removed from legal sale,” Zakim said. Wright said, “Every so often I’m able to get my hands on products that definitely don’t originate here. I’m, like, ‘How the hell did y’all get this?’ ”

The New York–area “care provider” I spoke to mentioned a few such products, which he was considering adding to his offerings: water-soluble THC drops and an oral spray. “There’s nothing comparable back East,” he told me. He was in the middle of a business trip, he said, when he heard about Cuomo’s speech. His account of his role within the cannabis black market in New York, and his thoughts on its possible future in the wake of full legalization, have been edited and condensed.

“I was in the airport when I heard about Cuomo’s announcement. It didn’t surprise me or anyone I sent the story to. We’ve been working to get in position for a while now. It seems like a political move, since he called it a ‘gateway drug’ just last year. I figured he’d come around if he wanted votes in his next run for office. They tend to do that.

“I’m not worried. One of my selling, or differentiating, points is that there’s no tax on my product, and you can basically get it delivered to your door, by our drivers, no matter what time it is. The dispensary will have hours of operation. And you have to have your I.D. at a dispensary.

“I expect business to be consistent, if not better. Based on what I’m seeing in other states, I think I can count on the dispensary prices being enough of a deterrent to keep most of my clients—and even up the price tag a little. Once people go to a dispensary and see the receipt, they’ll be, like, ‘That’s why I called you.’ Maybe they’ll go once, as a novelty. But if you have to buy two and pay for three, for anything, you’ll return to the black market.

“A lot of dispensaries are so new that their quality isn’t gonna be the same as ours. We have product scrutiny. [My business] is a farm-to-table market—though I usually tell people it’s like a Whole Foods. I’m the small butcher who goes and picks out the cattle for slaughter to make sure you’re getting a product that’s fresh and approved.

“I have a good amount of repeat buyers. If I don’t have the product they want, I’ll reach out to someone I know in the industry that does. Or, if they go on weed vacations, they’ll send me pictures and ask questions.

“I used to have a customer mailing list, but I recently brought on employees, so I can focus more on macro stuff rather than texting. I’ve been utilizing my marketing and graphic-design background. A lot of other distributors send out long-ass text messages or terrible product menus indicative of someone with no grasp on technology. Sometimes I pull a guy aside and say, ‘This is inefficient and terrible. I know you’re sending out hundred of texts a day. I don’t want to communicate with you like this. Let me help.’ I do that for some of the older guys.

“I’ll be doing more underground events, vending and networking with venders who’ve paid two-fifty to five hundred for a table. At events like that, I don’t necessarily need to reach new end users, which can be a pain in the ass. I can talk to the guy managing the table, or the provider in charge of everything, about working together.

“Once it gets to higher quantities, or if it’s one of my regulars and it’s not inconvenient for me, I might deliver it myself. It’s personal, being a care provider. You don’t see your physician every week. People come to me more than that. I’ve been a shrink for people in turmoil. Part of their lives. I’ll tell employees, ‘Go see Mike. He’s kind of paranoid. Make sure he gets the indica, not the sativa-based, vaporizer cartridge.’ I’ve been dealing with some of these people for years—I know their ailments, why they’re smoking. I make sure they’re getting that level of service and care.

“I get referrals, like from these ladies in an office in Manhattan. Like, to the point that I want to give them holiday gifts, just because they always say I’m really nice and dependable, which is good to hear when you’re a ‘weed man’—or a ‘care provider,’ which I prefer.

“I’ve started branching into the mushroom industry. The markets are growing, with people’s acceptance of recreational marijuana. It’s good to have a foothold in things that are up and coming. I’m gonna be just fine.”