Before recreational marijuana went legal in California, you could find black-market dispensaries selling the stuff

The experience of buying drugs still feels trapped in a liminal zone between normal shopping and under-the-table commerce.

Buying legal weed can still make you feel like a criminal.

In a strange paradox, buying illegal drugs has never been more user-friendly.

Drug delivery services have definitely gotten more organized, thanks to encryption and apps .

Legal drug businesses still convey a whiff of criminality. Illegal enterprises increasingly display a veneer of legitimacy. And corporate money has given a professional sheen to potentially harmful substances that are barely regulated at all.

Drinks spiked with kratom and tianeptine are displayed like packs of gum at gas stations and head shops.

There is no guarantee that the stuff you’re getting from licensed, registered dispensaries is of any higher quality.

Oregon is the only state that has legalized psychedelic mushrooms for recreational use.

Even at legal establishments, the products may contain an alarming amount of pesticides, including prohibited chemicals and substances that aren’t explicitly banned but are known to be toxic.