Marijuana industry tops charts with HIGHEST growth rates in job market

The nascent cannabis industry is the fastest growing job-creator in the US, according to new data. With over 64,000 new jobs added since last year, the weed market is causing its competitors to go up in smoke.

Now that 34 states have approved medical marijuana and ten have legalized it for all adults, the weed business is booming. A new report from cannabis website Leafly and Whitney Economics shows that legal positions in the industry increased by 44 percent last year, in some states growing from zero or double digits to several thousand.

In total, there are now over 200,000 cannabis-related jobs in the US, meaning more people are employed helping to get Americans high (and of course treat their Glaucoma) than there are people working in breweries to get them drunk (69,000). The report seems very proud in announcing that there are now more cannabis industry workers than there are dental hygienists in the US. The industry also comes with some amazing job titles like “budtender” and “ganjapreneur.” 

However, not everyone is as optimistic as the authors of the study. Last month, California introduced an emergency senate bill to keep farms open as the state’s legal weed industry (the biggest of any state in the US) reportedly approached the verge of collapse due to excessive demands for licensing.  The industry has also faced other issues, such as banks refusing to work with distributors due to cannabis’ continued status as a Schedule 1 drug.

Meanwhile, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a reminder that just because something is legal, doesn’t mean it is safe. According to the center, marijuana use has been linked to serious health issues such as anxiety and depression, and regular use can negatively affect memory and attention span.

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