Try GOLD - Free
MILLION-DOLLAR SLICE
New York magazine
|January 18–31, 2021
CHRIS BARRETT HAS MADE BANK ON THE GRAY MARKET SELLING PIZZA LACED WITH 40 MG OF THC PER SLICE. CAN THE PIZZA PUSHA SURVIVE POT LEGALIZATION?

Three hours before his most recent arrest, the Pizza Pusha, a.k.a. Chris Barrett, leans back in the executive seat of a private jet. He’s in a white Hugo Boss sweatshirt and black Air Force 1’s. Stacked high on the seat next to him are Stoned Gourmet Pizza boxes, the logo printed in kelly-green Batman letters with a marijuana leaf replacing the first O. The boxes are for piping-hot Sicilian slices drizzled with THC-infused olive oil.
Distributing recreational cannabis is still illegal in New York, where the pizza is coming from. It’s still illegal in Florida, where the pizza is headed. The co-pilot, after being asked if the delivery crew could pose up front with a pizza box for Instagram, scurries back to the cockpit to report this drug-smuggling operation to the Florida authorities. Barrett shrugs off the potential implications. “I’ve done a lot of risky things in my life. Selling pizza ain’t one of them,” he says matter-of-factly, with a fuhgeddaboudit salami-shop accent and the hand gestures to match. “Besides, it’s good content.”
In the soon-to-be 15 states (including, this year, New Jersey) with recreational marijuana already approved, it is sold in slick packaging through user-friendly websites and at catered dinner parties. But back in NYC, the state may have decriminalized possession of small amounts, and the NYPD may have cut down on marijuana-related arrests (especially if you’re white or live in an affluent neighborhood), but cannabis delivery services still operate underground. Sellers can’t officially advertise. Craigslist pages offering Astor Place Starbucks meetups at 4:20 are quickly taken down. To grow, pot businesses rely on word of mouth, one text and friend of a friend at a time; it can take years to build a client base.
This story is from the January 18–31, 2021 edition of New York magazine.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM New York magazine

New York magazine
The Uncanceling of Chris Brown
The singer claims he's been overlooked, but his blockbuster stadium tour suggests otherwise.
6 mins
October 6-19, 2025

New York magazine
Who Speaks for Wendy Williams?
TRAPPED IN A HIGH-END DEMENTIA FACILITY, THE FORMER TALK-SHOW HOST IS CAMPAIGNING FOR FREEDOM. IT MAY NOT MATTER.
29 mins
October 6-19, 2025

New York magazine
How does a luxury brand like Prada sell desire to a public inundated with beautiful images? It hires Ferdinando Verderi.
The Man Who Translates Fashion
15 mins
October 6-19, 2025

New York magazine
The City Politic: Errol Louis
Eric Adams believes he can rewrite his legacy. His record says otherwise.
5 mins
October 6-19, 2025

New York magazine
The Home Gallery
A young couple with a growing art collection reimagines a penthouse loft in Soho.
1 mins
October 6-19, 2025

New York magazine
THE TECHNO OPTIMIST'S GUIDE TO FUTURE-PROOFING YOUR CHILD
AI doomers and bloomers alike are girding themselves for what's coming-starting with their offspring.
23 mins
October 6-19, 2025

New York magazine
Among the Chairs and a Half
My exhaustive search had three criteria: The chair had to be roomy, comfortable, and nontoxic.
3 mins
October 6-19, 2025
New York magazine
He's Opening a Gourmet Grocer in Tribeca. Maybe You've Heard?
Meadow Lane is ready at last. It only took six years and 685 TikToks to get here.
2 mins
October 6-19, 2025

New York magazine
Neighborhood News: The Kimmel Resistance Comes to Fort Greene
Unlikely free-speech warrior broadcasts from BAM.
1 mins
October 6-19, 2025

New York magazine
Harris Dickinson Won't Be Your Heartthrob
The actor's feature-length directorial debut is a dark look at homelessness, but don't call him a do-gooder.
8 mins
October 6-19, 2025
Translate
Change font size