Tribeca Film Festival premiere documentary about NYC’s first weed delivery service

Though New York City is still waiting for legal cannabis sales to become a reality, black market delivery services have happily been delivering high quality weed for over fifty years. But even if every stoner who lives in the city today knows the number of at least one delivery service, few know the history of the very first delivery service in the city.

That should change this week. As part of this year’s short film recap, the Tribeca Film Festival is presenting The Pope of Dope: The Story of NYC’s First Delivery Service. This new documentary, produced by the newly formed cannabis brand Foxy and modern weed delivery company Eaze, tells the story of Mickey Cesar, a gay Jewish man who invented a whole new way of selling cannabis in New York in the 1970s.

“For our first documentary, it was important to recognize the man and delivery service that paved the way for today’s cannabis industry,” said Nico Dios, co-founder of Foxy, in a statement. “With Eaze pioneering compliant delivery services today, we can’t think of a better partner to tell the story of the first delivery model.”

After spending a few years selling weed in Amsterdam, Mickey Cesar moved to NYC in 1979 and started his own cannabis business in the East Village. But instead of attracting buyers, Cesar decided to bring the weed to the people. All a customer had to do was call 1-800-WANT-POT and a bike courier brought him as much weed as he could smoke. This business model is commonplace today, but back then it was completely unique.

In its prime, Cesar’s business had up to 6 dispatchers working around the clock, selling $ 30,000 worth of weed every weekend. Cesar even went so far as to advertise his service on the Howard Stern show, but the limelight caught the attention of the NYPD, who arrested Cesar and closed his business.

Cesar wasn’t just there for the money, however. During the AIDS crisis, he donated free weed and rent-free housing to people struggling to survive. And despite being shot five times by rival drug dealers and arrested countless times for Grass, he campaigned for legalization until his death in 1995.

This documentary is the first in a larger series that “will pay tribute to the untold stories of cannabis and culture,” said Ryan Littman, co-founder of Foxy, in a press release. “While we pride ourselves on our premium hand-drawn indoor flower, we also strive to develop media projects that engage with our consumers and provide cannabis education.”

Despite the proliferation of cannabis in popular culture, The Pope of Dope is only the second cannabis-focused film to be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in recent years. In 2019, the Festival premiered Waldo on Weed, a documentary about a Pennsylvania couple who used medicinal cannabis to help their child cope with traumatic chemotherapy.

The Pope of Dope is one of 5 short films that were nominated for the coveted Tribeca X Award this year. The documentary will now air at the Tribeca Film Festival, but for those who can’t make it to a personal screening, the film can also be viewed online.