My answer to the OP is hell yea I've been friends with weed dealers - it depends on who you're dealing with though. I have three levels of weed dealers, low, mid, and high.
Low level is 8ths, quarters and, sometimes, ounces. Mid level is quarter pounds, half pounds, and, usually less frequently, pounds. High level is dealing with kilos and pounds on a daily, or at least near-daily, basis, with the sky being the limit at that point - how many pounds they move in a month is a good benchmark of just how high up they are.
Basically, the lower level dealers are usually the most genuine in my book, because they're either dealing strictly for extra cash or just to smoke more themselves - with that being said though, I've never become close friends with one of these types, because, well, let's face it, they are, in a way, 'expendable', because these guys come and they go all the time - I mean, they usually don't make much more than the dude flipping burgers at McDonald's, and that's only if they save up their money. (Although, if they are really smart, and deal to enough people, they can still make a lot, don't get me wrong - plus, their money isn't being taxed).
Then, of course, you have mid level dealers - these guys funnel weed reliably to lower level dealers and also will bust down product themselves, down into quarters and eighths, to make more profit than they would from strictly 'wholesaling', albeit on a lower scale than people higher up on the weed food chain. In my opinion, these are the people who you really, really want to get close with if you get lucky enough to know a few. First off, unlike the lower level dealers, their shelf life is usually a few years, if not much, much more (I'm talking anywhere from 5-10 years on the low end...10-20+ if they can continue to stay in the game and if they haven't transformed into a huge dealer at some point) if they're smart. In other words, they are actually worth the time to talk to because they're not planning on going anywhere soon - they have to be available 365, 24/7, if they want to be any good, similar to the lower level dealers they deal to, except that they are often making much more money and are thus better off. I'm friends with a few of this type - one's a girl who I can chop it up with and who smokes me out even when I just buy a gram off her, and the other one's some dude who has a corporate job on the side and who can tell me about his business life in addition to moving weed (in considerable amounts) just to make extra money. This leads me into my second point about mid-level dealers - even if weed is their 'everything', as in, their only source of income, since they are 'only' mid-level in the supply chain of weed dealers, they usually have pretty cool lives outside of dealing - dealing just acts as a reliable source of funds for them to allow them to do whatever the fuck they want to. This is in contrast to lower level dealers, who are probably either in college or just trying to deal with life in general. You won't hear about any of this life-searching bullshit from mid-level dealers. Then again, I don't have anything against lower level dealers, because, obviously, without them, a ton of weed would never get out into the wider market, but yea, I'm just trying to make a point of comparison here.
As for the people at the top of the weed food chain, I've never had to meet one in person, because I've never had to, fortunately, but I've heard plenty from my mid-level dealers - basically, any notion or idea of friendship goes out the window when you're talking to top weed dealers. Courtesy and punctuality are of course necessary, but unless they're family, blood or otherwise, to you, or something alone those lines, these are essentially just business acquaintances. Also, they're likely involved pretty heavy into gang activity or street life in general, whatever you want to call it - the higher you get, the more protection you need around you. (Of course, I am generalizing somewhat, but this is definitely true in the area that I live - even if they are not directly involved in the gangster lifestyle, I'd bet money they have very close connections to the street if they make it to the top, or near the top, of the weed food chain wherever you live at). If you don't want to be involved with this type of stuff and lifestyle, then just don't - go to mid or low level dealers - they might still be 'involved' with gangs, but at least this kind of talk shouldn't crop up regularly because you're not going to be talking about the really large amounts. Top weed dealers are businessmen, plain and simple - be ready to deal with that.
Also, as a final note - despite what I said about not needing to be an out-and-out 'friend' to low level weed dealers, which most are, you should still be nice to them and understand that they're taking a lot of risks without too much reward, especially at the lower levels, by dealing weed to you. If you're buying from them, whoever they are, that means that you want what they have and you should treat them the same way you would treat the person working at your local CVS/Walgreen's pharmacy - with courtesy and respect. Besides, if you're nice to a dealer at any level, if you're lucky, you can get smoked out. And that's always a perk.
Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to put my thoughts out there - a cardinal rule of dealing with other people in life is to give what you want to receive - if you're a jerk to a dude/girl who's just trying to sell you weed for god's sakes, and who clearly doesn't rip you off or give you inferior product, you should really think about what you're doing - they can always just ignore your texts/calls and then you might have to go without weed for weeks/months, even years if you don't have any other connections in the area - trust me, it definitely happens. You don't know what you have until it's gone.
Also, I think a lot of people know what Jibult's talking about...he said:
"This thread makes me miss my college years.
I've been thinking about going back. My degree is useless (in my hands, at least). I was pretty foolish in selecting a major and even moreso in actually following through for 4 years on it.
Eh, 20/20 vision in hindsight..."
Yea, that just about sums it up for me too, lol. Even low level weed dealing can easily just be as lucrative as most entry-level-position jobs in this crippled economy...of course, it depends on how long you've been in the game and how many contacts you've been able to build up...but yea, that is definitely the greatest thing about the weed 'world' in my book - be nice to others in need and they shall return the favor by being nice to you when you are in need, at least for the most part. It doesn't always work out like that, obviously, I mean, shit can get really fucked up if you're not careful, but when it does, awesome things can happen, psychologically and monetarily.
All that being said...there is something very satisfying about having a completely legit job, if only to be able to tell other people in your family about it. If you don't care about that though, then deal weed with vigor because the world is run by money, not love or truthfulness.
I always think the biggest thing that people should understand about weed dealers and customers is just how similar the weed game actually is to legitimate business - consistency and reliability are craved, even flocked to. Good products are awesome too, but the success or failure of most weed ventures depends on your past history in the game and the level of trust people have in you of being able to live up to your underground reputation. Peace everyone - be safe, and be nice to weed dealers! They're just trying to make money without being directly attached to the corporate matrix. In some ways, it's even a noble enterprise, although most people think of dealers as 'scum' or 'low lives' - if that was true, then the CEO's of pharmaceutical companies are pure devils.