in 2018 alone. And when indirect and induced jobs are
added, the report states, the total number of full-time
American jobs that depend on legal cannabis rises to
296,000.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in forecasting
the most in-demand jobs for the 10-year period from
2016 to 2026, called for a 47% increase in home health
care aides, a 96% increase in wind turbine service
technicians, and a 105% increase in solar photovoltaic
installers. Although the bureau isn’t allowed to count
legal cannabis jobs because of pot’s Schedule I status, if
it did, they’d be expected to increase by 110% over that
period, per Leafl y’s analysis.
“Many of these jobs had existed in the past, but in
the criminal market,” Smith contends. “So they weren’t
necessarily good-paying jobs, and if they were, the
workers weren’t paying taxes and otherwise contributing
to the overall economy in the way those in the legitimate
industry are able to.”
In April, Marijuana Business Magazine (an affi liate of
Marijuana Business Daily) published an industry salary
study, which found that average earnings are as good as
or higher than comparable positions in more mainstream
sectors. A master cultivator on a pot farm, for instance,
averages $145,000 a year, compared with $80,320
earned by a traditional farm or ranch manager. A compli-
ance manager, who ensures that strict regulations are
adhered to, makes $88,333 a year, whereas a typical ag-
ricultural inspector brings in $44,930. A budtender, who
counsels shoppers on cannabis strains and strengths,
averages $32,240, nearly $6,000 more than a bartender.
While all of these positive factors are aligning to push
toward federal legalization of marijuana, Americans’
opinions on the deeply divisive issue have dramatically
shifted in recent years. A 2018 Gallup poll put support
at 66%, up from 60% in 2016 and 31% in 2000. Pew
Research found 62% in favor in 2018, up from 57% in
2016 and 31% in 2000. Those surveys, however, lumped
medicinal and recreational marijuana together, and the
numbers drop somewhat when people are asked specifi -
cally about the legalization of recreational pot. A recent
report from YouGov found that just 50% of
those polled favored legalizing recreational
pot, versus 31% in opposition.
Politicians have evolved too, coming a
long way from noncommittal confessions of
personal dabbling in weed. Legalization is
already a topic among the bumper crop of
2020 Democratic presidential candidates, most of whom have weighed in
favorably. A growing number of Congressional Republicans are supporting
efforts as well. “I think the political will is there,” Smith says. “It’s a matter of
making sure this Congress is capable of passing a bipartisan bill.”
The prospects of just that were heightened last June when Sena-
tors Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) introduced the
Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES)
Act, which would prevent the feds from intervening in states that have
legalized cannabis. The bill, which has garnered support on both sides
of the aisle, is part of NCIA’s current agenda in Washington, Smith adds,
along with legislation like the Marijuana Justice Act and, more immediate-
ly, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act. That bill—intro-
duced last year and currently with more than 160 cosponsors from both
parties and climbing—would prevent federal regulators from penalizing
banks working with cannabis-related businesses. The House Financial
Services Committee approved an updated version in late March, by a
45-15 vote, including 11 Republicans on the “yea” side. “We have a good
shot of approval,” Smith says.
It’s approaching a century since the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 ef-
fectively outlawed cannabis. The Controlled Substances Act, enacted in
1971, solidifi ed the ban. It wasn’t until 1996, when California became the
fi rst state to legalize medicinal use, that marijuana started to come out of
its long and complicated prohibition. Now that public, governmental, and
economic forces are coalescing, that opposition seems to be going up in
smoke.●
S8
PHOTO: BRIEANNE MIRJAH
The hemp industry could have a
greater impact economically than
the marijuana industry, just as an
agricultural commodity.
“
T T
”
A master cultivator on a
cannabis farm can aver-
age an annual salary of
$145,000, compared to
$80,320 for a traditional
farm or ranch manager.
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