I didn’t always aspire to work in the cannabis industry. Hell, I didn’t even know there was going to be one while studying journalism at Indiana University almost 20 years ago. Instead, most of my life I wanted to be a reporter. This entailed being the person on the sidelines telling the stories, and hopefully getting close enough to the fire I would live out some of the narratives on my own. Hunter S. Thompson style, of course.
I lived that role for most of my life and never dreamt I’d end up taking journalism one step further and starting my own publication – especially a cannabis magazine. Although I don’t touch the plant unless I’m consuming it, and since we don’t sell products or gear at Salt Baked City, it’s still hard to say I work in the illustrious cannabis industry – but I do. My job is far easier than those who grow, process, or sell the plant though. My daily assignment is to bond with those who are as passionate about cannabis as I am, and try to tell their stories to you.
I’m not alone in Utah. At the beginning of 2022, the Center for Medical Cannabis reported there were a total of 451 pharmacy agents (budtenders) working at the 14 medical cannabis pharmacies found throughout the state. The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) reported there were 344 registered employees holding cultivation positions, while another 349 were working in processing labs. That’s a total of 1,144 plant-touching, tax-paying employees in Utah.
While this information indicates our legal cannabis industry is expanding since it began in March of 2020 – it’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to actual job statistics. Personally, I’d like to know more details about how the legal cannabis industry is having an effect on our state’s economy, however, these numbers don’t include the many ancillary jobs like accounting, human resources, legal affairs, marketing, security, maintenance, cannabis media, lobbyist, public relations, and the glorious smell testing gigs that have become available in the state.
Although my stats are hardly complete, it required three separate interviews to gather the Utah medical cannabis job statistics above. I’m not bragging, but mostly complaining. Typically, American taxpayers compensate those working in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to gather employment data from every industry found in the country. In fact, a simple Google search revealed their data showing they counted over 15-million restaurant industry workers in the U.S. last year. That took me literally 10-seconds to find out.
Since a majority of those on Capitol Hill still consider the legal cannabis trade a ‘shadow industry,’ despite recording $25-billion in legal sales last year, the BLS still “forget” to report it to the public.
Thanks to our friends at Leafly, we know that 428,059 U.S. citizens worked full-time cannabis jobs during 2022. This annual jobs report includes both plant-touching, and ancillary positions. That’s a 33% increase since 2021, which equates to 280 new cannabis jobs per day. Try and keep in mind, all this momentum took place during a recession, pandemic, and major league baseball strike.
I credit this situation to the “We don’t talk about that kind of stuff” mentality. It’s safe to say, this mindset is prevalent in the Behave State and a giant reason why I started Utah’s first cannabis news and culture magazine.
If you’re thinking of joining the cannabis workforce, unfortunately you might need to start on your own. Reading Salt Baked City is a great start though. If you really want to step out of the shadows, make sure to attend this year’s Utah CANN expo happening in May. This will be your opportunity to meet all of the different roles that make our cannabis industry great, and hopefully find one that fits you like your favorite strain. See you there!
