“You’re going to have to get a job doing something.”
Some days I really do hear the words of my father ring through my ears. I heard him say it over and over again. Mostly to my sister; I was always a hustler, but I got it sometimes too.
Regulation isn’t the end
I’ve been passing this sentiment on to a lot of my friends lately. They have been involved in the unregulated cannabis industry for years, and are now literally scared of getting regulated marijuana jobs. Well, I know it can be difficult when you work for yourself for years, on your own schedule, paying yourself what you think is a lot of money.
I get it. You quit mainstream society because you didn’t like the boss you had. Or maybe you didn’t like the hours. Or May not of even had a skill. Washing dishes sucks and you wanted out of it. That’s what cannabis did for thousands and thousands of people. And that’s what cannabis still does for people. The plant cultivates us as much as we think we’re cultivating it.
Move with the times, or get run over
Times are changing. You can resist change, and like the salmon, swim upstream. Or you can relax, fire one up, and float down the river with the rest of us.
The first thing to realize is there’s more to weed than just growing. Many cannabis farmers love their job growing or being a cannabis farmer. Now some people get lucrative paychecks under the title grower. Most make 25 bucks an hour.
“So where is my future?”, you ask. The way I see it, California cannabis farmers have two options.
Marijuana Jobs
Option one: Get regulated and become the boss. Start your own business in the cannabis industry and create marijuana jobs. That’s right. Start a business, stop complaining, and do something. Cannabis regulations aren’t that much harder than any other business or franchise.
Swallow your pride, and trade the war stories about the good ‘ol days with a smile instead of a scour. The old days are over, and I predict 10 to 20 times profit on a pound of cannabis are over as well. Let’s look for 10%.
You don’t have to start a cannabis business in order to find marijuana jobs. There are other opportunities servicing the cannabis industry that are regulated in the same methods, which brings up option two.
Option two: Get a job at a cannabis facility. Think of everything that it takes to operate a large scale commercial cannabis grow. From installing light bulbs and watering plants to harvesting. Find your passion within one of those things, develop a resume, and find your dream job.
If you love to harvest weed you can be a harvest manager.
Maybe it’s clones, or trimming, Security, management or accounting. There is something out there that you can do that still keeps you in the industry, even if you aren’t doing what you were before.
If you are committed to staying in this industry and sticking along for the wild ride, you will find a way. If you were a boss in the unregulated market, you can be a boss in the regulated market. It might just take extra effort (and more taxes).
