I'm very long out of the business, it is several lifetimes ago for me, which is why I'm comfortable talking about it now.

Grey market at scale is a pain in the ass, and risky. You need people to buy pounds at a time, in cash. A big bag for a big bag.

You basically need to set up a supply chain that you can trust... this is why the DEA a lot of the time finds weapons with drugs.

So yea... growing for friends is easy... growing to make a living, is a real pain in the ass.