Cannabis Jobs 6 Real (and 100 Percent Legal) Careers
Careers in the Cannabis Industry
In early 2018, Washington D.C. and nine other states legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Residents can also use marijuana for medical purposes in 30 states.
There are currently 12 additional states considering the medicinal or recreational legalization of marijuana this year and there are many people who want to get into this booming business of selling cannabis themselves. Even if you live in a state where marijuana hasn’t been legalized, it is still recommended that you look for jobs in this industry. There are more than you think.
HOW TO LEGALLY WORK IN THE MARIJUANA INDUSTRY
The marijuana business is growing at a significantly fast pace. Cannabis-related jobs liek those at our cannabis marketing agency are plentiful in the states where marijuana is legalized. While you’re searching for work, please be advised that the federal government still considers marijuana an illegal drug. There are jobs available such as budtenders in dispensaries, marijuana growers, cannabis dispensary SEO strategy creators and strain taste testers who try out different types of buds and do reviews on them on popular cannabis review sites like Leafly.
If you just want a regular job in the field with some room for advancement and growth along the way, there are several options available.
GREEN STOCK ANALYSTS
Green stock analysts keep a watchful eye on” Green stocks” people might want to invest in and offer advice to investors. Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth Corp. are two legal cannabis industry players that will be legalized soon according to The Motley Fool.
Investment analysts can earn a median salary of around $62,000 a year and a portfolio manager can earn a median salary of around $84,000 a year according to PayScale’s salary data.
FOOD SAFETY ANALYST FOR EDIBLE CANNABIS
Smoking isn’t the only thing you can do with your marijuana. You can also grow it to eat as well. This is where food safety analysts come into play because not all edible weed is well-regulated. Writer Maureen Dowd wrote about her experience with eating too much of a weed-infused candy bar on a trip to Colorado in 2014, a short time after marijuana became legal in the state.
What a food safety analyst for cannabis does is the exact same thing a regular food safety analyst does to keep our food safe. They test for quality control, dosage notes, appropriate labeling, and potency.
Irina Ivanova at CBS News notes that scientists and technicians in labs are currently working on infused products like gourmet food, pizza, and sweets. These people are necessary for product development as well as testing the finished products.
The salary is pretty good, too. According to PayScale’s salary data, on average, a food safety inspector earns a salary of around $50,000 a year.
PRODUCT DESIGNERS
California has united the entire west coast in legalizing marijuana. Now, there is a huge industry of competing suppliers. These suppliers rely on little advertising and name recognition to attract new customers. What they mostly rely on is product marketing and labels that catch the eye of the consumer.
The average median salary for a cannabis product designer is around $74,000.
CANNABIS DATA CRUNCHER/CONSUMER RESEARCHER/MARKETER
The key to staying ahead of the curve in the cannabis industry is to analyze data on consumers and markets.
Debra Borchardt from Forbes says that companies such as the software management business, BioTrack THC and Eaze, a cannabis delivery company, are creating customized consumer reports for cannabis with their data along with requirements from states to track each plant from the cradle to the sale. This has been great business for software developers, while the lack of market data has allowed ancillary companies to tap into information on their customers and sell it to others.
The average salary for a cannabis data analyst is around $57,600 a year according to PayScale.
Cannabis Nurses and Traveling health Care
Marijuana nursing is taking off alongside travel nursing so if you’re in the health care sector you may want to search for nursing jobs or brush up on your interview skills.
WEBSITE DEVELOPER
All businesses need a presence on the web so that consumers will know who they are. Just like any start-up business, there are different methods for how to build a website that’s tailored to your cannabis business including discussions about the look and feel and debates about appropriate e-commerce platforms.
Of course word-of-mouth advertising done in secrecy is still considered to be one viable option to market cannabis, however, it, as well as online marketing, have their share of concerns as a cannabis SEO agency. There are still federal and state regulations that must be followed and can sometimes counter each other. In order to run a website for cannabis sales, you need to be aware of those legalities.
According to PayScale, web developers earn an average salary of around $57,800 a year.