From Food and Drink to Cannabis: Interview with Richard

This October marks the three year anniversary of cannabis legalization in Canada. As I write this, I am amazed how new, so young, this industry is. So much has happened in the world that it’s easy to forget that it was really only three years ago.

To celebrate this dearly important anniversary, I decided to pay a visit to my local fully licensed pharmacy; If not to celebrate, then to support the industry I suppose buy local!

But that’s where I met Richard for the first time.

The shop itself was a fascinating experience. Smooth, slim counters, with various weed buds exquisitely presented under warm spotlights … everything, just like that. Apple Store for Weed would be the most apt description. Richard works as a budget tender; think genius bar expert in weed.

Richard has been a budget tenderer in the industry since the beginning of legalization. What better way to celebrate the 3rd anniversary than to get an on-site look at what the industry has been doing since legalization. The map is never like the destination.

Richard Poston is thirty years old and has toured all of Canada. Before moving to Ottawa, he was in Banff, Alberta, where he worked in the food and beverage industry for four years.

OK! Let’s start from the beginning. How did you come to be a budtender in Ottawa?

Well Ottawa was exactly where my parents and my girlfriend’s parents live, so it was the place. I actually had a job offer to work at this fancy restaurant in the Byward Market, but when I got to Ottawa the HR rep apparently went on leave and didn’t tell anyone, so they acted like the position wasn’t does not exist anymore.

Impressive! that sucks! how did you make the jump from there to weed?

Yes! So I was walking down Bank Street and never been to a pharmacy in Ottawa. But people were lining up on the sidewalk so I thought what the hell. And I’ve never bought weed from a pharmacy, the people I get it from are the people I get it from.

But I go in and it was wild. The people who work really seemed to enjoy working there and just being there. Most of them are college students and in their early twenties, but they are very knowledgeable about cannabis. The energy and vibrancy… As a weed smoker, I saw myself totally working there.

I immediately asked to speak to a manager. It was the first time I heard of Bud Tender as a position. But we talked and luckily I knew my weed, terpenes, trichomes, genetics, cultivation … all of that. So I got the job.

Beautiful! You mentioned that mainly young people work there, are your customers also mostly young people?

Most of the time yes. But we get older audiences on occasion. It’s funny how older people would buy something a young person wouldn’t buy. Just like we get older customers asking us about classic items like Moroccan or Afghan hash. While younger customers just want value for money.

And your job as a budtender is to expand the mind and taste by answering all questions and recommending a strain appropriate to the occasion?

Yes, exactly. Also, it’s not like walking into a liquor store where there is marketing to let you know which bottle is good for what. There are no corridors in a pharmacy. It’s more like working in a whisper bar during the ban. You would come to the checkout and order what you wanted and then it would be ready on the fulfillment window.

Also, there is still a limit to how much you can buy. It’s not like a schnapps where you can go out with a case of wine. You can’t buy more than forty grams. So, I think there is this whole market that we are missing. Those who want to buy a half pound or a pound. But I think we can do it.

So what does your professional future look like? Can you be a budget tender and meet the demands of life as you get older?

Well there isn’t a lot of money in there. It’s a little more than the minimum wage, but there is no tip. So this sucks. But as a budget tender there are so many career paths in the industry. Once you’ve got some experience, you’re ready to move. Just like Keithan, who worked with me as a budtender, is now a sales rep at Redecan, Maddy works for Pax, Jason went to Green Hedge. Business is also expanding, so we’re losing store managers and hiring from within to fill vacancies. So it’s really cool that you can move up the chain while working with something that you are passionate about.

Thanks for your time, that was really cool.

The same applies here! I’m pleased.

Richard Poston has an Instagram account where he rates different cannabis strains to educate customers about what to expect.