Estimates have shown that states could make anywhere from several million to nearly a billion dollars from marijuana in the coming years pending legality.
If you’re looking for jobs in the marijuana industry, you’re going to find work that is both lucrative and fun. The number of jobs available now, even before it’s fully legal, show us that there’s a lot of room to grow, no pun intended.
Here are five jobs to consider in the marijuana industry.
1. Grower
If you have a background in agriculture or love to work in the great outdoors, the work of a grower is for you. Growers are more than just farmers or people who are good with plants. Growers learn all about the genetic aspects of dealing with cannabis, which strains are best under which conditions, and how to create hybrids.
For anyone who loves biology, working as a grower or working with plants in general offers a great future. There are jobs all the way up to chief biologist for large grow houses all the way down to part-time summer jobs working in fields with plants directly.
There’s no limit to the ways you can learn from and engage with plants for the future of your career.
If you’re interested in the way that plants grow, how to innovate and create new hybrids, and how to get the most out of a harvest, then being a grower is for you. There are so many things to learn about the biological makeup up cannabis plants that the sky is the limit for anyone with enough drive behind them.
2. Sales Rep
If you’re truly enthusiastic about the marijuana industry, you could become a sales rep in one of the many related industries. From the flower itself down to the devices used for distilling, there are so many ways to get involved. If you’re interested in the industry, you’ll find a lane that works for you.
You could become a sales rep for one of the many vaping companies that are emerging. While using the vape devices to consume marijuana isn’t always a position that people in the industry can take, there are a lot of different related elements.
For anyone who has a mind for selling products, you could make millions just selling clothing or apparel for the wide variety of smokers out there. There are so many untapped markets, from the upscale corporate marijuana enthusiast to the free-thinking artists who want a quiet place to smoke.
If you’re ready to carve out your niche, you could find a lucrative career in the world around marijuana. For more about the potential of cannabis careers and some job listings, you can view here.
3. Lobbyist
If the politics around the world of marijuana get you excited, you should consider working as a lobbyist. There are so many positions available for people who get excited about the future of marijuana and the way that it can be managed and taxed. Even though the industry is booming, there’s a lot of room for helping it grow.
There needs to be a lot of people who know the current laws and the way they could expand. Most laws around agriculture, plants, and medication aren’t prepared for something like marijuana. As long as it’s still illegal on a federal level, it’s really hard to cross state lines with it.
That’s where you could come in. If you’re able to help draft new laws or work with the people who do, you could be the one to change the world when it comes to marijuana. While it’s challenging to conceive of something that’s never been done before, if you’re connected to what’s happening, you could be the one to deliver.
While there are a lot of people who need to sign on to get something major to change, it takes people with innovative ideas and minds to do it.
4. Shop Owner
If you like being around the culture that surrounds marijuana, you could be the next big shop owner or distributor of marijuana-related products. For people who want to own their own smoke shop or sell apparel that’s related to marijuana, there’s never been a better time.
Now that marijuana is more socially acceptable than ever, the number of ways you could approach a shop has never been more varied.
There are smoke shops now that look like Apple stores and only sell the highest tech items. There are glass shops that specialize in high-end smoke devices. And if you’re interested in edibles or baked goods using THC or CBD, that could be the next big thing to break out of this industry.
You’ll find so many ways to enter the culture that you could be overwhelmed with career choices!
5. Dispensary Owner
If medical marijuana is your passion, we need more people who understand the various ways that different strains can deal with illness. The number of people using marijuana or CBD to help them deal with muscle pain, trauma, or cancer treatment has never been higher. Marijuana is vital to the comfort of a lot of people and dispensaries play a major role in helping people.
If you’re considering opening up a dispensary, you need to learn about the different strains and how they help specific ailments. Once you learn and start helping people, you’ll find it’ll be easy to build a following.
Jobs in the Marijuana Industry Are Booming
The number of new jobs in the marijuana industry is a clear indicator that there’s a lot of room for the market to grow. With just a few states making it legal, the possibility of it growing to something much bigger is an exciting prospect.
If you’re trying to make sure you’re strongly positioned to take up space in the market, check out our guide to building a strong reputation.