Working in the Cannabis Industry

 

'Legal cannabis is America’s fastest-growing industry, with more than 321,000 jobs across dozens of states' - Leafly

 

 

'Cannabis companies need advice on intellectual property, employment, taxes, license and regulatory compliance, lending and financial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and a host of other specialty practice areas. That creates rich veins for lawyers to mine for billable opportunities.' - Bloomberg Law

 

 

'According to a report from CannabizTeam, marijuana is seeing “a second wave of senior management … drawing from proven business leaders from the CPG (consumer packaged goods), biotech, food and beverage, retail, financial services and pharma industries. Demand for this new talent has pushed average executive comp up as much as 16% in 2020.” - MJBizDaily

 

 

'The most-advertised cannabis roles on the website (Indeed) included quality assurance, retail workers, production assistants, maintenance technicians, executive assistants and nurses, which is likely connected to the existing medical marijuana market. Want ads in the recreational market will also add to opportunities in the already established medicinal pot industry' - The Globe and Mail

 

As for the salaries, the on-demand jobs are very in line with other industries. When it comes to full-time jobs, outside sales jobs pay on average a salary of $73,000, which is in line with other outside sales jobs. On the higher end, a compliance manager can make $149,000, a director of extraction makes on average $191,000, and a director of cultivation on the high end can make $250,000.' - TechCrunch

 

In most places in the world today, working in the cannabis industry means that you are a shady criminal, a repulsive drug grower or peddler, growing your plant in hiding and selling your produce under cover of darkness, away from the prying eyes of law enforcement and troublemakers. You are considered among the dregs of society, damaging society and its youth through the criminal act of growing and selling the evil plant that leads to madness and the urge to rape everything that you see.

However in some parts of the world, there are rays of hope emerging for the lover of the sacred cannabis plant consumed by hundreds of millions of people world wide for its vast medicinal, spiritual and recreational benefits, that is if you are passionate enough to adopt a means of livelihood involving the plant. In many places in the US, Uruguay and Canada where cannabis is legal for medical and/or recreational use, there is a booming cannabis industry generated hundreds of thousands of jobs of all kind. The US alone created 321,000 jobs in the cannabis industry by 2022. 

 

Jobs include cultivators, trimmers, processors, packers, distributors, retail staff, bud tenders, security, technical experts to handle plant related technology, greenhouse managers, operations managers, test lab technicians, regulators, advocates, lobbyists, media persons, data analysts, branding and advertising experts, and cannabis tasters. Other than the direct plant related jobs, there is also cannabis research at the industrial, government and university levels, cannabis tourism, cannabis events, the wellness industry, food industry, beverage industry, cannabis accessories, cannabis education, cannabis consumption lounges, and the very small matter of over hundreds of industrial applications of cannabis, to name just some of the new jobs emerging in the booming cannabis industry.

Jobs are starting to pay very well, with many roles comparable to the best in other industries. Many cannabis companies already meet the minimum wage requirements of $15 per hour that the US is looking to make mandatory. Job sites are regularly listing openings in the cannabis space, and the momentum is picking up. The cannabis industry is currently rated as one of the most equitable industries, with one of the best female to male ratios across industries. Business leaders from many other industries, including former politicians, are taking up leadership positions in the boards of global cannabis companies. Cannabis is no longer a shady industry with its workers looked down upon, it is emerging as one of the coolest, hippest industries to work in. As such, it is drawing some of the brightest talent, giving all other industries a good run for their money when it comes to workplace satisfaction and quality of employment.

When the world plunged into the doom and gloom of Covid, the cannabis industry continued to grow and employ an increasing numbers of persons. The situation demonstrated the resilience, sustainability and the potential for the cannabis industry to bring long term growth and employment to large numbers of people. In the US, in states where cannabis has been legalized for recreational use, cannabis was declared an essential service along with food and medicine during the fake pandemic related lock down. 

 

Worldwide the cannabis industry can lift economic activity and provide jobs to millions of people, enabling them to lead good quality lives in a sustainable manner. World leaders and governments need to wake up and recognize the potential of the cannabis industry to generate sustainable environment friendly employment and economic benefit for all who associate with it. Governments pay lip service to job creation, while millions of persons find themselves unemployed, desperately searching for ways to survive in the hellish world created by the persons who focus on creating personal wealth through ways that are unsustainable for humans and the planet.

Related articles

The following set of articles related to the subject are taken from various media. Words in italics are the thoughts of yours truly at the time of reading the article.

'This position is located within the Agricultural Research Service, Field Organization, Northeast Area, Plant Genetic Resources Unit, Geneva, New York.

The incumbent serves as the curator of hemp involving preserving, regenerating and producing high quality germplasm and conducting research on the maintenance, genetic diversity, taxonomy, systematics, characterization, enhancement, and evaluation of germplasm.'

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/PrintPreview/618091400

'An employee at a cannabis store who is responsible for helping customers. Job duties include educating the public on cannabis products and helping customers navigate and purchase cannabis products. Budtenders use their expertise in cannabis to help guide people through the cannabis experience.'

 

https://www.leafly.com/learn/cannabis-glossary/budtender


https://drugpolicy.bamboohr.com/jobs/


'"Attorneys serving clients from any section of the cannabis industry—or planning to do so--need to be sure they have the most current legal information in this dynamic market,” said Susan Burns. “The cannabis industry affects U.S. and international business sectors ranging from agriculture to finance. Conference attendees will learn more about the global landscape for cannabis-related businesses.”

“The U.S. market for cannabis is growing exponentially,” said Nancy Kaymar Stafford, Chair of the ABA’s International Law Section. “We’re pleased to have the opportunity to inform ABA members regarding trends surrounding the legal market for cannabis.”

https://www.susanburnsllc.com/cannabis-conference

'As the cannabis industry continues to grow in the United States, budtending is one of the most straightforward ways to get into the business and build a career. Loving weed is a great foundation for becoming a budtender, but what else goes into getting the job?

A budtender is an employee at a cannabis store who is responsible for helping customers. The job description for a budtender may contain responsibilities like:

- Helping medical patients or customers find the right products
- Understanding the newest products to emerge in your local market
- Making sure the dispensary stays clean and tidy

Depending on what state you are in, you may be responsible for honoring the privacy of a patient’s health information, helping customers understand purchasing limits on flower or concentrates, or just being that one person who knows what it’s like to actually try a new product. '

https://www.leafly.com/news/industry/how-to-make-a-budtending-career-a-reality

'Legal cannabis is America’s fastest-growing industry, with more than 321,000 jobs across dozens of states. If you’re curious about starting a cannabis career—or just want a job with decent pay and cool co-workers—budtending is an excellent way to learn the trade.

Leafly’s 2021 Cannabis Jobs Report found 321,000 full-time jobs in America’s legal cannabis industry. That report was published in Feb. 2021, and since then tens of thousands of jobs have been created in booming states like Michigan, Massachusetts, Missouri, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

It’s worth noting that nearly all of those states are east of the Mississippi River. America’s cannabis boom began in the West, but today’s hiring boom is happening in the East.'

https://www.leafly.com/news/industry/budtending-by-the-numbers-heres-where-the-jobs-are

'In June, Amazon announced to treat cannabis in the same way as alcohol by no longer including marijuana in its comprehensive drug screening program for any positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation.

Bloomberg reported that Amazon also advised its delivery partners to prominently advertise that they won’t screen applicants for marijuana use. Such a move could boost the number of job applicants by as much as 400%. '

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dariosabaghi/2021/10/05/inside-amazons-support-to-legalize-marijuana-at-the-federal-level/

'Industry experts suggest that competitive markets tend to favor businesses with white men in ownership and leadership positions, primarily because of their established access to capital.

In addition, more executives from mainstream sectors are opting into the cannabis industry as a new opportunity, accelerating the increase of white men in power positions.

https://mjbizdaily.com/female-and-minority-executives-lose-ground-in-cannabis-industry/

'Cannabis companies need advice on intellectual property, employment, taxes, license and regulatory compliance, lending and financial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and a host of other specialty practice areas. That creates rich veins for lawyers to mine for billable opportunities.'

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/cannabis-practices-sprout-as-big-law-firms-follow-the-money

'Mainstream retail employees often receive perks and bonuses – gadgets and cash are only two possibilities – depending on how much they sell of certain products.

The same holds true in the cannabis industry – at least for some retailers and product manufacturers.

Depending on the cannabis market, sales reps carry different titles: budtenders, dispensary associates, in-store sales representatives.

No matter what they go by, there’s no denying that they’re the tip of the spear for cannabis sales and can have a huge impact on a marijuana brand’s success.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/how-marijuana-companies-woo-budtenders-to-increase-sales-promote-brands/

'The marijuana industry should expect to feel the same impacts as other industries from imminent federal regulations requiring businesses with more than 100 employees to impose a coronavirus vaccine mandate or mandatory weekly testing for those who don’t vaccinate.

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the proposed rules, which will be implemented by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) via an upcoming emergency order.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/bidens-vaccine-mandate-expected-to-apply-to-marijuana-industry/

'Those in search of board members seek experienced individuals who align with their company’s goals and strategy as well as complement current leadership.

“A few years ago, not many people would want to say they’re on the board of a cannabis company,” said Liesl Bernard, CEO of California-based recruiting firm CannabizTeam.

“Today, it’s much more of an exciting, sexy industry to be in. And the conversations are a lot easier to have with executives. They almost feel like it’s a plus that they are part of the cannabis industry versus something that they would want to hide.”'

https://mjbizdaily.com/filling-marijuana-company-boards-is-getting-easier-as-industry-expands/

'Competitive demand for top talent especially is pronounced in emerging or prospective adult-use markets such as Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and New York, according to Bernard.

She noted that the industry has experienced strong growth after most states deemed marijuana operations “essential” during the pandemic.

“That was a big bonus for the cannabis industry and legitimized the industry as well,” she said.

She said many cannabis companies are in a better cash-flow position and have easier access to funding. As a result, they are able to offer higher salaries to pull in high-caliber talent from other industries such as consumer packaged goods, retail and pharmaceutical.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/10-us-marijuana-ceos-get-million-dollar-pay-in-2020/

'According to a report from CannabizTeam, marijuana is seeing “a second wave of senior management … drawing from proven business leaders from the CPG (consumer packaged goods), biotech, food and beverage, retail, financial services and pharma industries. Demand for this new talent has pushed average executive comp up as much as 16% in 2020.”

Bernard said highly sought-after candidates who can command high compensation include people from compliance backgrounds, retail veterans who have managed multiple stores, chief financial officers and lawyers from global companies.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-industry-success-spurs-more-competitive-salaries-benefits/

'Half the states across the country have increased – or will raise – the minimum wage paid to hourly workers this year, but many cannabis businesses, including retailers, are unlikely to feel much of an impact.

That’s because most say they already pay their employees above the minimum wage set by the states in which they operate.

Moreover, that pay is in addition to attractive benefit packages.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-businesses-ahead-of-minimum-wage-increases/

'The number of people working in the U.S. cannabis industry is expected to jump to 240,000-295,000 by the end of 2020, slightly higher than the number of computer programmers employed in the United States.

The anticipated rise in cannabis employment represents a nearly 50% increase over 2019 levels, which was estimated at 165,000-210,000 in the newly released Marijuana Business Factbook.

Cannabis employees include people directly working in the sector, such as budtenders and extraction technicians, as well as employees of ancillary companies – think consultants and lawyers – who support the marijuana industry.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/chart-us-cannabis-employment-could-climb-nearly-50-in-2020-surpassing-computer-programmers/

• 'Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill sparked both sharp nationwide increases in licensing and explosive sales growth for 2019.
• The issuance of U.S. hemp-cultivation licenses saw a year-over-year, nationwide increase of 364% (from 3,546 in 2018 to 16,462 in 2019).
• Small family farms’ entry to the space drove licensing booms in some states, while other states saw the arrival of Big Agriculture interests in their markets.
• In 2019, Tennessee led the trend with 3,200 new licenses, marking more than a 13x increase over its 226 in 2018. Conversely, Montana’s comparatively low 277 licenses in 2019 represent nearly 40,000 acres, averaging a Big Ag-style footprint of more than 144 acres apiece.
• Traditional hemp states Colorado, Kentucky, and Oregon continue to lead in cultivation as the nation overall shows a projected 225,000 acres harvested in 2019, more than a 180% increase beyond 78,176 in 2018.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/increases-in-state-issued-hemp-licenses/


'As such, hemp and hemp-derived CBD preparations that have 0.3% THC or less are not controlled substances, the DEA confirmed. “DEA registration is not required to grow or research” them.

The confirmation will be good news to the CBD industry, which has exploded recently. But any manufacturers making health claims about the CBD-containing products will still receive scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, individual state laws and restrictions may apply.'
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/dea-may-finally-let-others-grow-cannabis-for-research/


'Using CBD products as an onramp to a marijuana business also makes sense from a cash-flow perspective. When a state legalizes cannabis and announces a future date for its sale, companies need to hire employees, rent space, find distribution etc. There can be delays in licensing and other issues. Selling hemp-based CBD products while the company waits for the THC business to kick in, provides an income stream to draw from.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/julieweed/2019/08/24/cbd-companies-positioning-themselves-for-cannabis-legalization/

 

'Today’s cannabis employees have high expectations. They want and deserve more than just a paycheck. So, what makes a company one of the best places to work? What benefits do employees find the most enticing? The mg staff and advisors evaluated hundreds of nominations, considering incentives, benefits, and reports from employees themselves in order to find companies that do right by their people. From basics like health and dental insurance, which all the honorees offer, to unique perks like fully-stocked breakrooms and stock options, here are fifty cannabis companies that invest in their employees.'
https://mgretailer.com/business/50-best-companies-to-work-for-in-cannabis/


'I think there’s more than 160,000 employees across the cannabis industry right now, and by 2022, the industry is expected to grow to around 340,000 full-time employees.

We did survey 1,500 people to put together a salary guide and one of the questions we asked was how much of their labor needs are seasonable versus otherwise, and they said about 30 percent.

As for the salaries, the on-demand jobs are very in line with other industries. When it comes to full-time jobs, outside sales jobs pay on average a salary of $73,000, which is in line with other outside sales jobs. On the higher end, a compliance manager can make $149,000, a director of extraction makes on average $191,000, and a director of cultivation on the high end can make $250,000.'
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/24/jobs-platform-vangst-just-raised-10-million-to-plug-more-people-into-the-fast-growing-cannabis-industry/


'The times, they are a’ changing—and quickly. About six in 10 Americans (62%) are in favor of legalized marijuana, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. With the growing acceptance of weed blowing through the country comes another change: We’re seeing an influx of companies posting cannabis jobs on Monster. As with any company, the opportunities vary. Click on any of the
below links, and you’ll see job titles that range from tech to sales to operations to retail. The jobs noted below are just a sample of what’s currently available and include medical marijuana jobs as well as recreational-usage jobs. As you check out the positions for which each company is hiring, remember that these listings are updated regularly, so come back frequently.'
https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/marijuana-jobs


'The most-advertised cannabis roles on the website (Indeed) included quality assurance, retail workers, production assistants, maintenance technicians, executive assistants and nurses, which is likely connected to the existing medical marijuana market. Want ads in the recreational market will also add to opportunities in the already established medicinal pot industry'
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cannabis/article-cannabis-want-ads-longer-marijuana-job-searches-up-as-industry-grows/


'"Experienced people in Colorado are very used to working under very strict guidelines and regulations. [They] have a great experience in a mature, regulated and highly competitive market. Because of that, there are new and potentially lucrative opportunities in states that are newly legal with similar highly regulated markets," said Ryan Smith, the COO of Cure Holdings, a Colorado-based medical marijuana company that also has operations in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Hawaii.'
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/canada-enters-marijuana-market-colorado-131800114.html


Who says hard work doesn't pay? You never know when the skills you've acquired will come to good use...

'The successful applicant must be able to demonstrate “extensive experience with and the ability to perform the above tasks,” NIDA’s notice says.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/the-feds-are-hiring-professional-marijuana-joint-rollers-kind-of/


'Cannabis dispensaries switched drivers from independent contractors to employees and their businesses didn’t crumble. They didn’t have much of a choice—as California ushered in legalized marijuana, those who wanted to be a part of what could be a billion-dollar business had to play by the rules set by the state. '
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/09/gig-economy-independent-contractors/570307/


'Tucked into the forests of Mendocino County, accessible by a two-lane road that winds through hills of golden grass abundant with rattlesnakes is the small town of Covelo, where hundreds of seasonal workers converge every year, eager to help harvest the region’s most lucrative cash crop — marijuana.

These workers, known as “trimmigrants,” patiently cut off the shaggy leaves and brittle stems of marijuana buds, trimming each one into a compact green nugget primed for bongs and brownies.'
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/us/marijuana-trimmers-emerald-triangle.html



'It goes without saying that anyone can end up unintentionally hiring someone they shouldn’t have, so if any of the following scenarios have happened to you, don’t feel bad. This information can help in many types of businesses and will specifically save you a headache if you work in the cannabis industry.'
https://thecannabisindustry.org/member-blog-hiring-new-budtenders-keep-your-eyes-out-for-these-red-flags/


'As full pot legalization spreads, labor organizations like the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW)—which represents 1.3 million people across multiple fields, from grocery store workers to meatpackers—are seizing on the nascent industry. The UFCW already claims tens of thousands of cannabis workers across the US: In August of last year, Seattle-based dispensary chain Have a Heart inked the state’s first collective bargaining agreement between a recreational cannabis shop and the union. In 2017 in Minnesota, a cannabis production facility and chain of dispensaries struck a deal with the local UFCW. And in New York in 2016, the first union agreement for medical marijuana businesses was established in advance of the seemingly inevitable legalization of recreational use by adults in the state.'
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qvy8a7/unionizing-weed-workers-are-reigniting-the-labor-movement


'He also believes his firing has given The Pot Scientist a new mission. While the original concept was about educating adults about cannabis, he now feels he can help fill a void in cannabis education among young adults and high school students.

“The channel has been up for years now and it was kind of on its last legs,” he said. “I wasn’t inspired by the content; I didn’t feel I had a specific audience in any way. I was about to cancel it—and now I feel there’s a need for this knowledge.”'
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/youtubes-pot-scientist-fired-for-answering-burning-questions


How cool is your job?
Openly support ganja legalization Spain. The farmers, the growers, the retailers, the consumers, people worldwide are going through hell because of its illegal status and because of lack of access to the plant. European nations, by clandestinely using the herb and publicly opposing it, are fueling black markets and worldwide exploitation of the herb and its people. People, without access to the plant, are forced to use dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, tobacco and alcohol as alternatives or being imprisoned because governments worldwide continue to oppose ganja's legalization for recreational use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnMwHT6f-6s


From IT security to a CBD company..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJBZ4ruZ0wY


'The project is part of a handful of efforts in California intended to get minorities and those negatively affected by the war on drugs involved directly in the state’s legal marijuana industry.

According to an online job posting, the position pays $95,776 to $140,021, requires a master’s degree and at least three years of experience with either economic and community development or providing services to low-income, minority or underserved communities.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/los-angeles-social-equity-cannabis-program-manager/



'In addition to facing background checks and mandatory licensing in some states, budtenders are often asked medical and legal questions that their counterparts in other industries would never encounter. For example, customers at a liquor store would generally not ask the clerk how much beer they should drink to feel the desired effects, or whether wine is helpful or harmful to someone with high blood pressure. It is also hard to imagine a customer asking where they should go to drink the bottle of whiskey they had just purchased.'
https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/how-should-budtenders-respond/



'Listen to the latest episode of the Teamster Nation Podcast and learn how the union is organizing workers in the growing cannabis industry in California and across the country. Plus, remembering the Queen of Soul.'
https://teamster.org/news/2018/08/episode-169-growing-future


'How Does a Marijuana Lawyer Do His Job?
Meet Marshall Custer, who co-leads the cannabis law practice at Husch Blackwell.'
https://slate.com/business/2018/10/whats-it-like-to-be-a-lawyer-in-the-marijuana-business.html


'Most cannabis patients engage with dispensary staff, like budtenders, for medical advice on cannabis. Yet, little is known about these interactions and how the characteristics of budtenders affect these interactions. This study investigated demographics, workplace characteristics, medical decision-making, and online behaviors among a sample of budtenders.'
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1178221817725515


'In this “lack of controlled supply chain, lack of standardization, [and] lack of compositional understanding,” Raber saw both “a job for a chemist [and] an entrepreneurial opportunity.” In 2010, 8 years into his post-Ph.D. career in industry, he founded a cannabis-focused testing laboratory called The Werc Shop in Los Angeles. It has grown into a 75-person consulting firm providing “scientific solutions,” Raber says, including “know-how, technical solutions, formulation expertise, analytical testing, and contract manufacturing support” to a range of clients in the industry. Raber employs scientists—primarily chemists and chemical engineers—with bachelor's degrees, master's, and Ph.D.s. He sees “tremendous” job prospects and adds, “We’re always open to resumes.”'

Cannabis and Funding for Education

 

 

One of the main arguments of persons who insist that cannabis should be prohibited is that it will harm the youth even though these claims have been proved incorrect, through multiple studies, in places where cannabis has been legalized for recreational use. On the other hand, taxes collected from cannabis sales is making significant contributions to school development programs in US states where the plant has been legalized. 

 

States such as Colorado, Alaska, Nevada and California, which were early movers in the legalization of cannabis, have been utilizing cannabis taxes for their education funding in the last few years. States that plan to legalize are looking at the funding of the education system as a key benefit of legalization. Funds have primarily been used so far to fund school infrastructure with the potential to scale this up to other areas such as operational areas like teacher recruitment. 

 

2020 was a catastrophic year for education. In the name of Covid, government shut down all institutions of education worldwide. The damage it caused, and still continues to cause, is not even fully clear. Only the coming years will reveal the extent of disruption this has caused in the lives of children and youth. While rich nations and high income individuals revel in the new found joy of how they are using technology to continue what they call education at home, the real picture is evident for all who would dare to open their eyes and see. In India, less than 25% of government schools have access to even the basic technology to continue the online education that is being trumpeted. Even among private schools, many have suffered, especially children and youth from low income households who can barely afford to feed themselves, let alone set up expensive technology for education. With many parents having lost jobs, even urban India has suffered great destruction in the field of education. The rates of school drop outs, especially in rural India, have spiraled. Even for those who were fortunate enough to access online education, the quality remains largely suspect. For the child and young adult, face to face interaction with the teacher is an essential part of education. Besides the teacher-child interaction, the social interaction with peers and the loss of extracurricular time at schools and colleges has caused psychological damage that only time will reveal. The financial situation of everybody, the schools, the parents and the teachers, the three segments that are critical to a child's education, is dire.

And what have the governments, that were so quick to use a disease that causes less damage than even road accidents, done to address the harms that they have caused to child and youth education in their utterly selfish aim of suppressing dissent among the people and giving the industries that fund them, pharmaceutical and petrochemical, a boost?

In India, a massive amount of its budget for 2021 was directed towards infrastructure development (read as contracts to carbon intensive industries to build roads through eco-sensitive regions), defense purchases, and hikes for its vast number of employees. According to the Indian Express - "The total education budget was slashed by 6 per cent from Rs 99,311 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 93,224 crore — the lowest in three years — with school education taking the biggest cut of almost Rs 5,000 crore. The allocation for higher education has decreased by roughly Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 38,350 crore this year." Rs 35,000 crore was allocated to Covid related activities (read as money into the pockets of the pharmaceutical and petrochemical companies providing vaccines and medical equipment).

 

In the US, cannabis was one of the few industries that witnessed stable and sustained growth through the Covid period. Revenues for all states that have legalized cannabis, especially for recreational purposes, has risen dramatically during the last year. Cannabis was denoted as an essential service in nearly all states that had legalized it. Governments struggling to meet today's needs and hoping to borrow extensively from external lenders, most of whom have also been hammered by their own respective governments' Covid measures, would vastly benefit if they legalized cannabis completely and took a leaf out of the books of the US states that are directing cannabis revenue into education.

 

The fact that the majority of cannabis businesses still remain illegal and that regulatory barriers prevent more businesses from moving out of the black market is an indication of the potential for education funding. If countries legalized recreational cannabis worldwide, we are talking about hundreds of billions of dollars worth of much needed funding that could flow into the global education system instead of flowing into the hands of vested interests and criminal networks as it does today. If you combine that with savings from redirection of law and drug enforcement agencies as well as freeing up of prison resources, we are talking about the potential to fund a large part of global education, especially in the countries that need funding the most. All countries compromise their education budgets, citing lack of funds, while giving more focus to areas like military, federal salaries, pharmaceutical and petrochemical businesses. Taxes through recreational cannabis sales could provide the much needed additional boost in terms of education funding that the world's children and youth desperately need today.

Related articles

The following set of articles related to the subject are taken from various media. Words in italics are the thoughts of yours truly at the time of reading the article.  

'Another “sin industry” universities are embracing appears to be cannabis, particularly in states where marijuana has been legalized—19 and counting. The financial crunch caused by the pandemic is a big reason why the University of Colorado dipped its toes into the space this spring, about nine years after the state legalized weed.

“We had to get creative and look at how we could increase our revenues,” said Lance Gerlach, the university’s assistant vice chancellor of advancement.

Colorado became one of the first major universities to add a cannabidiol purveyor as a corporate sponsor in April, signing a multiyear partnership with Synchronicity Full-Spectrum Hemp Oil, a local supplier of CBD products.'

https://www.wsj.com/articles/college-football-beer-gambling-cannabis-sponsorships-11631759264

'State Question 788, which legalized medical cannabis use and sales in Oklahoma, mandates that 75% of any surplus OMMA funds go to the state’s General Revenue fund and that the money “may only be expended for common education.”

That money made up $12 million of the funds given to the Department of Education, Watkins said, while the remaining $30 million was the result of a funding appropriation by the state Legislature.

“So I talked to the Department of Education, and we calculated what that money would represent, and it represented the salary of (794) teachers,”

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/marijuana/omma-reports-contribution-of-more-than-40-million-toward-oklahoma-education-enough-to-fund-hundreds/article_f96b27fa-0da1-11eb-a7a0-dfc01c0efd1f.html

'Alaska and California are linking revenue from legalized marijuana sales to after-school and out-of-school programming, according to the report, which recommended Massachusetts follow suit and "specifically funnel the revenue to programs that focus on promoting social and emotional competencies and learning."'
http://www.wbur.org/edify/2018/10/23/marijuana-could-fund-afterschool-programs


'So, do any marijuana taxes go into schools? Yes, but...

The truth is, no amount of marijuana taxes will change Colorado’s per pupil funding ranking. That’s because, virtually no marijuana money goes into schools’ operating budgets — the money that pays teachers, keeps the lights on, buys books and stocks the school chemistry lab. Instead, the money funds some maintenance and construction, and on a smaller scale, anti-bullying, literacy, dropout prevention and school health professional programs.'
http://www.cpr.org/news/story/do-marijuana-taxes-go-to-schools-yes-but-probably-not-in-the-way-you-think-they-do


'While Amendment 64 ensured excise taxes flowed into the BEST program, it did not offer any allocations for anything past that initial $40 million each year. That’s because organizers didn’t think recreational marijuana would generate much more than $60 million or so in tax revenue each year. Today, excise taxes on pot generate more than $80 million annually and sales taxes on retail marijuana alone have topped $178 million.'
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/12/27/colorado-marijuana-tax-dollars-schools/


 'While there has been some political wrangling over how that marijuana money gets distributed, the state is sending a good chunk of it towards education. Other cannabis-legal states have done the same – in Colorado, wholesale pot taxes are set aside for a public school fund, in addition to paying for regulatory oversight, youth drug prevention, and substance abuse treatment.

Cannabis and Job Creation

 

 

In 2023. NORML reports that 'The state-licensed cannabis industry added over 23,000 new jobs in 2023 and now employs over 440,000 full-time workers, according to data compiled by Vangst and Whitney Economics. Job growth increased more than five percent between 2022 and 2023, while retail cannabis sales grew over ten percent to $28.8 billion, authors reported. Year-over-year growth was especially strong in Michigan and more nascent adult-use markets such as Missouri, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. By contrast, ten states experienced negative growth during the past year. The report’s authors suggested that market saturation and waning demands for cannabis tourism likely played a role in those markets’ contraction. “Now more than ever, America’s cannabis industry is a state-by-state, region-by-region job market,” the study’s authors concluded. “Young markets in recently legalized states continue to expand and create employment opportunities, while labor demand in mature markets contracts along with revenue and profit margins.”

 

According to BusinessWire, "cannabis resource and marketplace Leafly released its fifth annual cannabis industry jobs report. The 2021 report shows that legal cannabis now supports a record-high 321,000 full-time American jobs across the 37 states with legal medical or adult use markets, and that the cannabis industry added 77,300 jobs in just the last year, representing a record 32 percent increase in year-over-year growth and creating jobs at a faster rate than any other American industry." That is double the job size in 2018, in a matter of just two years, with a pandemic in between and federal prohibition to boot. Only 23 US states have legalized cannabis fully. So that should give you an idea of cannabis' potential for job creation. And that is not just in the US, but globally.

 

Jobs cover multiple skill levels and educational backgrounds. The variety of job roles is large and includes growers, greenhouse managers, researchers, bud tenders, trimmers, extraction experts, distributors, media persons, dispensary and retail staff, test lab personnel, marketers, packagers, data and market analysts, technology experts, regulators, caregivers, etc.

Job sites like Monster and Indeed have reported a huge spike in demand for persons in the cannabis industry. In 2017 the number of job posts for openings in the cannabis industry increased by 445 percent, outpacing tech (254 percent) and health care (70 percent), according to ZipRecruiter. We are talking about just the US alone here and this is a country that has not even fully legalized cannabis federally.

When the world plunged into the doom and gloom of Covid, the cannabis industry continued to grow and employ increasing numbers of persons. The situation demonstrated the resilience, sustainability and the potential for the cannabis industry to bring long term growth and employment to large numbers of people.Worldwide the cannabis industry can lift economic activity and provide jobs to millions of people enabling them to lead good quality lives in a sustainable manner. World leaders and governments need to wake up and recognize the potential of the cannabis industry to generate sustainable environment friendly employment and economic benefit for all who associate with it.

 

If there is global legalization of cannabis, the number of jobs generated could potentially be in the range of hundreds of millions. This is across countries from the most economically well off to the most economically backward countries. The growth in international trade of cannabis could fuel another whole new set of job profiles and jobs. The numbers we are talking about are directly involved with the growth, processing and trade of cannabis itself. In addition to this, if we consider ancillary industries, what with the industrial applications of cannabis, cannabis tourism, cannabis events, accessories, synergy with wellness, food, beverage, medicine, etc we are talking about pervasive global impact in terms of job creation here. We are talking about job creation that involves products made from a renewable raw material, an agricultural crop that grows in even adverse conditions, that could provide solutions for global unemployment, unsustainable economics, climate change and environment damage. Now wouldn't that be a good enough reason to legalize the plant globally?

Related articles

The following set of articles related to the subject are taken from various media. Words in italics are the thoughts of yours truly at the time of reading the article.  

 

The state-licensed cannabis industry added over 23,000 new jobs in 2023 and now employs over 440,000 full-time workers, according to data compiled by Vangst and Whitney Economics.

Job growth increased more than five percent between 2022 and 2023, while retail cannabis sales grew over ten percent to $28.8 billion, authors reported. Year-over-year growth was especially strong in Michigan and more nascent adult-use markets such as Missouri, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

By contrast, ten states experienced negative growth during the past year. The report’s authors suggested that market saturation and waning demands for cannabis tourism likely played a role in those markets’ contraction.

“Now more than ever, America’s cannabis industry is a state-by-state, region-by-region job market,” the study’s authors concluded. “Young markets in recently legalized states continue to expand and create employment opportunities, while labor demand in mature markets contracts along with revenue and profit margins.”

https://norml.org/news/2024/04/18/report-cannabis-industry-employs-over-440000-full-time-workers/

 

 

'An estimated 321,000 people now work in the legal cannabis industry in the U.S. That’s a 32% increase over last year, making it one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country.

The U.S. cannabis workforce now outnumbers dentists, paramedics and electrical engineers.

The marijuana industry is one of the very few sectors of the economy that has continued to grow amid the pandemic. As dispensaries and cultivation facilities were deemed as “essential,” the industry became a refuge for workers who had been laid off or furloughed.

Most of them came from the retail and restaurant industries, which are still struggling to get them back, even with adding various benefits upon the sign-up.

Even as the pandemic eased, cannabis jobs have continued to grow, adding nearly 80,000 jobs in 2020, more than double what it did the year before.'

https://safehaven.com/news/Breaking-News/The-Cannabis-Industry-Is-Looking-To-Fill-The-Employment-Gap.html


'Legal cannabis is America’s fastest-growing industry, with more than 321,000 jobs across dozens of states. If you’re curious about starting a cannabis career—or just want a job with decent pay and cool co-workers—budtending is an excellent way to learn the trade.

Leafly’s 2021 Cannabis Jobs Report found 321,000 full-time jobs in America’s legal cannabis industry. That report was published in Feb. 2021, and since then tens of thousands of jobs have been created in booming states like Michigan, Massachusetts, Missouri, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

It’s worth noting that nearly all of those states are east of the Mississippi River. America’s cannabis boom began in the West, but today’s hiring boom is happening in the East.'

https://www.leafly.com/news/industry/budtending-by-the-numbers-heres-where-the-jobs-are


'But nowhere is cannabis's promise greater — or the change it could forge as impactful — than in social equity, criminal justice, job creation and economic development.

Once considered a direct road to incarceration, especially for people of color, cannabis should be considered a viable path to the middle class. Where it once decimated communities and destroyed families, cannabis can be a reliable generator of tax revenue to fund social and public health programs. Cannabis used to put people in jail. Now it puts people to work.

Legal cannabis has already added about 340,000 new jobs to the nation's economy, according to New Frontier Data. If cannabis was legal in all 50 states and at the federal level, New Frontier estimates 1.46 million jobs would be created and as much as $175.8 billion in tax revenue could be generated.

As every other indicator moves forward at warp speed, state and local social equity programs, decriminalization efforts and criminal record expungement, and the creation of free and open local markets drag at a snail's pace. The people who laid the foundation for the legal industry (and went to jail for it) and the communities that were disproportionately (and negatively) impacted by the "war on drugs" will just suffer again. People (predominantly men of color) are confined in overcrowded prisons for doing in the past what corporate cannabis is praised for doing today. Local and state coffers, wiped out by COVID, miss out on tax revenue, job creation and economic development opportunities due to racist local control ordinances, arbitrary license caps and ridiculous "Not-in-my-backyard"-ism. '

https://thehill.com/changing-america/opinion/574321-america-is-changing-cannabis-tells-the-story


'Cannabis companies need advice on intellectual property, employment, taxes, license and regulatory compliance, lending and financial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and a host of other specialty practice areas. That creates rich veins for lawyers to mine for billable opportunities.'

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/cannabis-practices-sprout-as-big-law-firms-follow-the-money

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-01/amazon-s-answer-to-delivery-driver-shortage-recruit-pot-smokers

 

'Job growth in the cannabis industry will be fueled by sustained sales growth and the launch of new state markets, especially on the recreational side of the business.

According to analysis from the 2021 MJBizFactbook, the marijuana industry will employ 340,000-415,000 full-time equivalent workers across the United States in 2021 and grow to 545,000-600,000 by 2025.

These figures account for workers directly employed by cannabis businesses, including budtenders and extraction technicians, as well as employees of ancillary companies that support the marijuana industry such as consultants and lawyers.

The retail sector constitutes most of the jobs in the cannabis industry, driven by requirements in nearly all states to sell marijuana – both adult use and medical – in distinct physical locations.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-job-growth-fueled-by-sales-and-new-markets/


'In 2020 the cannabis industry was the fastest-growing industry in the U.S., despite the crippling economic effects of pandemic-related closures and quarantines. According to the Leafly 2021 Jobs Report, the cannabis industry added more than 77,000 jobs, marking a 32% increase from 2019. Astonishingly, cannabis workers now outnumber dentists, EMTs, and electrical engineers in the U.S., and cannabis sales are providing a valuable and consistent source of new tax revenue to struggling state and local economies.

Last spring, state and local governments across the nation deemed cannabis operators “essential” or “critical” businesses, authorizing them to remain open throughout the pandemic as long as they followed physical distancing and other public health guidelines. The “essential” designation was both a welcome lifeline for an industry frequently deprived of many of the benefits and resources enjoyed by other legal businesses, such as banking, insurance, and small business loans, and a milestone in the fight to destigmatize the industry.'

https://www.denverpost.com/2021/04/20/marijuana-businesses-essential-4-20-cannabis-colorado/

'The analysis, entitled Economic and Revenue Impact of Marijuana Legalization in NYS – A Fresh Look, estimates that legalization will yield $566 million in tax revenue in its first year of implementation (2023) – increasing to $2.6 billion by 2027. Authors further estimate that regulating commercial marijuana sales will create some 50,800 new jobs within four years.

They conclude: “Legalization has the potential to strengthen local economies and redress existing inequities in both urban and rural New York. The proposals advanced by the Governor and the legislature both aim to provide economic opportunities to communities that have been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs. Legalization could also open up small retail opportunities in urban neighborhoods throughout the state that have experienced widespread pandemic-related restaurant and other small business closures.”'

https://norml.org/news/2021/02/18/new-york-legalizing-the-adult-use-marijuana-market-likely-to-create-nearly-51000-new-jobs

 

'The marijuana industry added more than 77,000 jobs over the past year—a 32 percent increase that makes the sector the fastest in job creation compared to any other American industry, according to a new report from the cannabis company Leafly.

In total, there are now approximately 321,000 full-time jobs in the marijuana sector across 37 states that have legalized the plant in some form. The data bolsters one of the common, bipartisan arguments in favor of reform: legalizing and regulating cannabis is an economic plus.'

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/marijuana-industry-sees-record-jobs-gains-in-2020-despite-pandemic-new-report-shows/


'Why cannabis? In 2020, it’s one of the rare industries that’s alive and thriving. Jobs exist and companies are hiring.

Cannabis is one of the only industries that has reported a sales boom during the COVID-driven economic downturn. Hempstaff’s James Yagielo credits the industry’s sustained success in unpredictable times for the uptick in college-aged applicants his company has seen.'

https://www.leafly.com/news/industry/college-students-taking-a-covid-gap-semester-are-turning-to-cannabis-jobs


'By year’s end, nearly 300,000 employees are expected to be working in the state-licensed cannabis marketplace, according to an analysis by the news website Marijuana Business Daily.

Their analysis projects as many as 295,000 marijuana-related jobs by the close of 2020 – a total that is slightly higher than the total number of computer programmers working in the United States. The newsgroup projects that there may be as many as 470,000 cannabis-related jobs by 2022.

The estimates are in line with those published earlier this year by the online content provider Leafly.com, which at that time identified some 243,000 full-time employees in the state-licensed cannabis industry.'

https://norml.org/news/2020/07/30/state-legal-marijuana-industry-to-employ-nearly-300000-workers-by-years-end


'The number of people working in the U.S. cannabis industry is expected to jump to 240,000-295,000 by the end of 2020, slightly higher than the number of computer programmers employed in the United States.

The anticipated rise in cannabis employment represents a nearly 50% increase over 2019 levels, which was estimated at 165,000-210,000 in the newly released Marijuana Business Factbook.

Cannabis employees include people directly working in the sector, such as budtenders and extraction technicians, as well as employees of ancillary companies – think consultants and lawyers – who support the marijuana industry.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/chart-us-cannabis-employment-could-climb-nearly-50-in-2020-surpassing-computer-programmers/
 

 

'Today, cannabis resource and marketplace Leafly released its fifth annual cannabis industry jobs report. The 2021 report shows that legal cannabis now supports a record-high 321,000 full-time American jobs across the 37 states with legal medical or adult use markets, and that the cannabis industry added 77,300 jobs in just the last year, representing a record 32 percent increase in year-over-year growth and creating jobs at a faster rate than any other American industry.'  

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210216005138/en/Report-Legal-Cannabis-Industry-Now-Supports-321000-Full-Time-American-Jobs-Doubling-in-Size-Since-2018

'I think there’s more than 160,000 employees across the cannabis industry right now, and by 2022, the industry is expected to grow to around 340,000 full-time employees.

We did survey 1,500 people to put together a salary guide and one of the questions we asked was how much of their labor needs are seasonable versus otherwise, and they said about 30 percent.

As for the salaries, the on-demand jobs are very in line with other industries. When it comes to full-time jobs, outside sales jobs pay on average a salary of $73,000, which is in line with other outside sales jobs. On the higher end, a compliance manager can make $149,000, a director of extraction makes on average $191,000, and a director of cultivation on the high end can make $250,000.'
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/24/jobs-platform-vangst-just-raised-10-million-to-plug-more-people-into-the-fast-growing-cannabis-industry/

 

 

'A new report from New Frontier Data projects that by 2020 the legal cannabis market will create more than a quarter of a million jobs. This is more than the expected jobs from manufacturing, utilities or even government jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS says that by 2024 manufacturing jobs are expected to decline by 814,000, utilities will lose 47,000 jobs and government jobs will decline by 383,000. This dovetails with data that suggests the fastest-growing industries are all healthcare related.'

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/debraborchardt/2017/02/22/marijuana-industry-projected-to-create-more-jobs-than-manufacturing-by-2020/?sh=fd68b3a3fa92 

'Those who own large estates and fortunes, or who receive large incomes drawn from working people who go short even of necessities; and those who, like tradesmen, doctors, artists, clerks, scientists, cooks, writers, valets, and lawyers, live by serving those rich people like to believe that the advantages they enjoy result not from violence, but from an absolutely free and proper exchange of services. They like to believe that their advantages - far from being gained by beatings and murders such as took place in Orel and in many parts of Russia this summer, and that occur continually all over Europe and America - have no connexion with such violence. They like to believe that their privileges exist of themselves, and result from voluntary agreements among people, and that the violence enacted also exists of itself, and results from some general, higher judicial, political, or economic laws. They try not to see that they enjoy their advantages as a result of the very thing which forces the peasants who have tended the wood and are in great need of the timber to yield it up to a wealthy landowner, who took no part in tending it during its growth and is in no need of it - that is, the knowledge that if they do not give it up they will be flogged or killed.' - Leo Tolstoy - The Kingdom of God and Peace Essays

• 'Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill sparked both sharp nationwide increases in licensing and explosive sales growth for 2019.
• The issuance of U.S. hemp-cultivation licenses saw a year-over-year, nationwide increase of 364% (from 3,546 in 2018 to 16,462 in 2019).
• Small family farms’ entry to the space drove licensing booms in some states, while other states saw the arrival of Big Agriculture interests in their markets.
• In 2019, Tennessee led the trend with 3,200 new licenses, marking more than a 13x increase over its 226 in 2018. Conversely, Montana’s comparatively low 277 licenses in 2019 represent nearly 40,000 acres, averaging a Big Ag-style footprint of more than 144 acres apiece.
• Traditional hemp states Colorado, Kentucky, and Oregon continue to lead in cultivation as the nation overall shows a projected 225,000 acres harvested in 2019, more than a 180% increase beyond 78,176 in 2018.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/increases-in-state-issued-hemp-licenses/


'Using CBD products as an onramp to a marijuana business also makes sense from a cash-flow perspective. When a state legalizes cannabis and announces a future date for its sale, companies need to hire employees, rent space, find distribution etc. There can be delays in licensing and other issues. Selling hemp-based CBD products while the company waits for the THC business to kick in, provides an income stream to draw from.'
https://www.forbes.com/sites/julieweed/2019/08/24/cbd-companies-positioning-themselves-for-cannabis-legalization/


'In fact, according to advocates of small cannabis businesses, if the sector evolves under the right conditions, craft will be the future of the marijuana sector.

Conversely, they say, under the wrong conditions, craft will perish and leave the space to a handful of cannabis conglomerates.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/craft-cannabis-is-the-marijuana-industrys-small-batch-sector/


'There is little industry-wide consensus on cultivation best practice. Some outdoor growers might divert streams to water crops, whereas others pursue dry farming, which uses no irrigation. Indoors, growers sometimes choose cooler, light-emitting diode (LED) lights to substantially decrease water use. Meanwhile, others simply expand small, energy-intense facilities into larger operations. “There is a wide range of energy efficiency,” Smith says. “Outdoor crops planted from seeds might have a zero footprint, while old-style indoor cultivation can be 500 times more energy intensive.”'
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02526-3


'For years, the popular image of cannabis growers has been scruffy hippies getting high on their own supply in a disorganized underground economy, rather than shiny white industrial agriculture facilities. Even larger-scale operations involved minimal quality control or lacked formal record keeping.

But as legal medical — and increasingly, recreational — cannabis becomes more widespread, the cannabis industry is becoming more professional. By adopting the methods and rigour of plant science and analytical chemistry, it is ensuring that it can produce safe, consistent and high-quality products for a fast-growing and lucrative market.'
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02527-2


'If the bill is passed and assented by the President, cannabis plantation will generate income far more than oil as cannabis now has various benefits and value chain in pharmaceutical industries for drugs and cosmetic manufacturing as well as other research purposes for institutions, saying by so doing it will create employment for the teeming youths in Nigeria.'
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/the-bill-to-legalise-medical-use-of-marijuana/

• By 2020 the $8.5 billion U.S. marijuana industry is expected to create 250,000 new jobs, according to New Frontier Data.
• In 2017 the number of job posts for openings in the marijuana industry increased by 445 percent, outpacing tech (254 percent) and health care (70 percent), according to ZipRecruiter.
• Fast-growing new careers driven by marijuana legalization include director of cultivation, budtender, dispensary manager, director of extraction and trimmer.'

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/06/five-hot-new-careers-created-by-marijuana-legalization.html



'Despite growing popular sentiment favoring cannabis, the industry’s legal status remains tenuous at the federal level.

However, there’s another force at play that’s much stronger than public polling and political prognostication: businesses and employers. Investment in hiring is one of the strongest indicators for business confidence as it requires a substantial long-term investment of time, effort and money.

In this analysis, we consider the state of the job market for the cannabis industry. How many jobs are available today? Which employers are hiring today, in what U.S. cities and how much pay do they offer? As the industry grows, how will increasing regulatory scrutiny and business opportunities shape its needs for talent? Glassdoor’s dataset of millions of job postings and salaries grants a unique view of how the growing cannabis industry’s job market is evolving.'
https://www.glassdoor.com/research/cannabis-talent-heats-up/


http://flamagazine.com/forbes-legal-cannabis-will-create-one-million-jobs-by-2025/

 

 

'The condition of Christian humanity, with its fortresses, cannon, dynamite, rifles, torpedoes, prisons, gallows, churches, factories, custom-house and palaces, is really terrible. But neither the fortresses nor the cannon nor the rifles will attack anyone of themselves, the prisons will not of themselves lock anyone up, the gallows will not of themselves hang anyone, nor will the churches delude anyone or the custom-houses hold anyone back, and the palaces and factories do not build themselves or maintain themselves. All this is done by people. And if they once understand that there is no necessity for all these things, these things will disappear.

And men already begin to understand. If they do not all understand, the leaders among them do - those whom the rest will follow. And what the leaders have once understood they cannot possibly cease to understand. And what the leaders have understood the rest of mankind not only can, but inevitably must, understand too.

So that the prediction that a time will come when men will be taught of God, will cease to learn war any more, and will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks (which translated into our own tongue means that all the prisons, fortresses, barracks, palaces, and churches, will remain empty, and that all the gallows, guns and cannon will remain unused), is no longer a dream but a definite new form of life, to which humanity is approaching with ever-increasing rapidity.' - Leo Tolstoy - The Kingdom of God and Peace Essays


'Exports would require cultivation, growth, harvesting, testing, packaging and delivery of cannabis, of course. This would create thousands of jobs in a chain that ultimately leads to overseas sales. The jobs could lure back some of the 1 million or so Georgians who are working overseas for lack of opportunities at home.'
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/321898


'With $989.7 million in total contributions to the economy—including auxiliary businesses that supply, outfit, and shelter cannabis companies—the industry also brought 8,300 full-time equivalent jobs to the state, the Nevada Dispensary Association said. Of that sum, the industry generated $443.3 million in direct, indirect, and induced labor income.'
https://www.leafly.com/news/industry/nevada-sells-more-than-500-million-in-cannabis-in-first-year


'“If a small community like this isn’t growing, it’s dying — and that’s what we were doing,” Mr. Williams said. “We needed to do something.”

The City Council in this solidly Republican community of 5,000 people has approved 81 permits for cannabis businesses since 2015. Four stores are selling marijuana to the public — about 100 times the number of dispensaries per person over the entire state. Almost every block in Needles has a run-down building like the old Relax Inn, which is being converted into a cannabis growing facility. Or a new building going up for manufacturing oils and edibles. If all the projects pan out, local officials hope they will generate more jobs — an estimated 2,100 — than Needles has altogether right now.'
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/09/business/cannabis-business-needles-california.html


'Including the due diligence of factoring in relative risks, the report details how, if fully realized, cannabis operations on tribal lands could increase jobs by up to 30,000 positions, generate hundreds of millions in wages, and lower unemployment rates among Native Americans nationally by 0.5% (from 8.5% to 8.0%). The bottom-line assessment is that by embracing the legal cannabis market, related Native American businesses could generate up to $2.5 billion dollars in revenue by 2025, generating a total of $5.0 billion in economic activity within Native American communities. '
https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/can-cannabis-offer-remedy-chronic-economic-woes-among-native-american-communities/

 

 

'Those who do violence (that is, those who take part in government) and those who profit by violence (that is, the rich) no longer represent as used to be the case the flower of our society and the ideal of all human well-being and grandeur towards which all the violated used formerly to strive. Now very often the oppressed do not strive to gain the position of the oppressors or try to imitate them. On the contrary, users of violence often voluntarily renounce the advantages of their position, choose the condition of the oppressed, and try to resemble them in the simplicity of their life.

Not to speak of the now openly despised duties and occupations - such as those of spies, agents of the secret police, usurers, and publicans - a large number of professions held by users of violence, which used to be considered honourable (such as those of police officials, courtiers, officers of the law, administrative functionaries, the clergy, the military, the monopolists and bankers) are no longer accounted honourable by everyone, but are even condemned by a certain much respected section of people. There are already people who voluntarily abandon these positions which were once accounted irreproachable, and prefer less advantageous positions not connected with violence.' - Leo Tolstoy - The Kingdom of God and Peace Essays

The Impact of Cannabis on Other Competitive Traditional Recreational Drugs

Alcohol and tobacco can be considered traditional legal competition to cannabis, while opium can be considered traditional illegal competition. Both, legal and illegal traditional competition, have been instrumental in the prohibition and the continued ban on cannabis federally in the US and world wide. All these industries have grown to such a large extent that their markets are massive today. In the US alone, the alcohol market is 7 times the size of the cannabis market and it is very likely that world wide it is around the same. The size of the tobacco market is likely to be many times larger than the cannabis market and even the alcohol market. The opioid market is humongous, both in its legal form as prescription opioids and in its illegal form as heroin. Most of today's pharmaceutical giants, drug cartels and even whole nations have reached their current state of wealth, power and influence through the business of opium and its derivatives as they vie with each other to control the world's opium supplies.

I am restricting the scope of this article to the traditional competition and not touching on the non-traditional or modern competition in terms of recreational drugs i.e. methamphetamine, cocaine, synthetic cannabinoids, novel psychotropic substances and abuse of prescription drugs.

The fear that alcohol, tobacco and opioid industries have today, as earlier, is that legalization of cannabis is likely to eat into their markets. The normal tendency for a cannabis consumer is to reduce the intake of alcohol, tobacco or opioids when cannabis is available. A person is likely to have far fewer drinks and far fewer cigarettes when he or she has access to cannabis. Cannabis has been used in numerous instances by opioid addicts to wean themselves of the habit. Given the exorbitant costs of heroin  as well as its dubious levels of purity, if organic cannabis was freely available, it is quite likely that users of all these recreational drugs too would switchover to cannabis completely or at least reduce their consumption.

Most people are aware of the fact that cannabis has great recreational value and vast medicinal benefits along with a very low harm profile and has been used by humans for as long as we can remember. This is as against the deadly nature of tobacco, heroin and alcohol that claims millions of lives world wide every year with minimal health benefits and high addiction rates. Legalizing cannabis would thus dent the tobacco, alcohol and opioid consumption markets maybe not drastically but possibly significantly. This is a key reason why these industries world wide oppose cannabis legalization or at least try to slow it down through their lobbies, working in conjunction with medical bodies and lawmakers. Public opinion has been so systematically shaped in favor of these harmful industries and against the wonderful recreational and medicinal plant cannabis that today it is natural for the world's public to oppose cannabis legalization as unthinkable, even as they sip their alcohol, take a drag of tobacco and pop or inject an opioid. To even suggest the prohibition of any of these three most harmful recreational drugs would be met with the stiffest opposition, especially among the very entities that strongly oppose cannabis legalization. Can you imagine banning beer in the UK and Germany or wine in France or tobacco in the UK and Russia? But that is precisely what these very same entities have done in the nations where cannabis was the equivalent of beer, wine or tobacco.

Having said that, it need not be the case of existence of one recreational drug at the cost of another. The cannabis lover is not as irrational or hardhearted as the tobacco, opium or alcohol lover. Cannabis users have always been peaceful and tolerant, believing in the co-existence of all. Cannabis, alcohol and tobacco do go well together. Many consumers of one are also very likely to be consumers of the other two. Beer, especially, pairs well with cannabis. Maybe the common ancestry of hops and cannabis with the Humulus plant has something to do with it. Many cannabis smokers mix their cannabis with tobacco and smoke it. Authorities are reluctant to acknowledge this but nearly every cannabis user is also comfortable with alcohol and tobacco. The fact that the cannabis user typically chooses to consume lesser alcohol and tobacco than a non-cannabis user  is usually a matter of preference. So even though businesses view cannabis as a threat to alcohol and tobacco, most cannabis consumers would regard alcohol and tobacco as accompaniments to their cannabis. This is increasingly being recognized and one of the driving forces of cannabis social consumption lounges. Even opium, in its natural form, was widely used alongside cannabis in places like India for a very long time. As with the current emerging strategy of using cannabis to wean people of opioid addictions,  I suspect that the usage of cannabis along with natural opium helped many people in traditional societies to control the highly addictive nature of opium and balance it.

Many large alcohol and tobacco companies are starting to invest in cannabis businesses to look at potential points of synergy in the future such as cannabis infused ales and cannabis cigarettes. In many places, cannabis regulatory bodies are also involved with alcohol regulation. Many liquor retail outlets are looking to also sell cannabis if regulations permit. In many places, laws are being looked at to permit cannabis sales and smoking in places that allow tobacco sales and smoking. The regulations that apply to cannabis packaging, branding and advertising are currently on the same lines as regulations for alcohol and tobacco. You could say that big tobacco and big alcohol getting into the cannabis space is a good thing given that they have the ability to mass produce, standardize and reach large numbers of people. But what we need to remember is that both tobacco and alcohol are highly regulated thus maximizing and concentrating revenues and profits to the few big businesses that have the financial and political clout. If these big businesses enter the cannabis space and try to make the herb a regulated product that only a few are entitled to sell and control, then it is best that these traditional competitors of cannabis are kept away from cannabis. Cannabis is first and foremost the plant of every single individual, especially, the poorest people of the world. Cannabis is not a recreational drug to be controlled and regulated by powerful businesses and governments, but a herb to be grown in the garden of every single person in the world who wishes to do so, be it the poorest or the richest. That is fundamental to the relationship between cannabis and all other recreational drugs, be it traditional or non-traditional. All entities who wish to involve themselves in the cannabis space will do well to remember this fundamental truth.

Related articles

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.  

• In 2018, U.S. retail alcohol sales totaled $254 billion, nearly 7x overall cannabis sales (both legal and illicit) of $37.2 billion.
• New Frontier Data estimates that overall domestic cannabis sales grew 6.7% in 2018, while alcohol sales meanwhile grew at 5% year over year (source: bw166).
• In its upcoming white paper, The Nexus of Alcohol and Cannabis, New Frontier Data will provide useful insights into how cannabis consumers use alcohol (i.e., frequency profiles, policy views, and cannibalization analysis): For instance, 50% of high-frequency cannabis users are also high-frequency alcohol users, while cannabis users largely state a preference for cannabis over alcohol.
• The report also offers key takeaways for cannabis and alcohol business operators, identifying opportunities to attract new consumers, and risks associated with changing patterns by both alcohol and cannabis users.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/us-cannabis-and-alcohol-sales/



Cheers to that...

'One of the nation’s leading alcohol industry associations held a briefing on Capitol Hill on Friday to tell lawmakers and congressional staffers about its position on marijuana legalization.

The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) became the first major alcohol association to call for the end of federal cannabis prohibition in July. At last week’s briefing, the group reaffirmed that stance, emphasizing that the federal government should allow states to legalize marijuana without interference.'
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/major-alcohol-association-briefs-congress-on-marijuana-legalization/


'“We think the drinker and the cannabis consumer are the same person,” Mr. Bensch said. “There’s no reason they can’t smoke a joint and drink a beer at the same time.”'
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/dining/drinks/beer-cbd-marijuana-breweries.html


'With a Saint Patrick’s Day weekend in sight, the occasion seemed right for the Hemp Business Journal to get into the holiday spirit with an update about the current state of hemp- and cannabis-infused beverages.

As detailed in a survey last October by New Frontier Data (parent company of the HBJ), nearly half (45%) of cannabis consumers who also drink expected to eventually replace at least some of their alcohol use with cannabis. For those who enjoy the taste and traditions yet worry about the health effects of alcohol, a new profusion of non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused beer and wines are offering some intriguing potential replacements (where legally available).'
https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/this-st-patricks-day-drink-options-offer-slainte-with-thc-and-cbd/


'The first recorded St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in Boston (not in Ireland) in 1737. Across the 282 years of parades since those origins, the holiday for the patron saint of Ireland has established itself as the third-most popular annual drinking day in the United States, where revelers consume an average of 4.2 alcoholic servings on the day, after Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday (4.6) and New Year’s Eve (4.4), according to Alcohol.org.

This weekend, as projected by WalletHub, 55% of Americans plan to celebrate the holiday and will spend a combined $5.6 billion (an average of $40) doing so. Nearly 1/3 (32%) of men and 1/5 (20%) of women say that they binge drink on the holiday, as defined by consuming either (by men) 5 or more, or (by women) 4 or more drinks over a two-hour period on a day when American revelers overall consume 152.5% more beer (and 819% more Guinness, specifically) than on an average day.'
https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/on-st-patricks-day-signs-of-cannabis-displacing-alcoholic-beverages/