Why working in the cannabis industry shouldn’t be a punishment on your resume

I recently came across a Reddit post where a small business owner asked a question about hiring someone to work in the legal cannabis market. I figured it might be a good idea to outline what the rest of the small business owners had to say about this. In the following article, I’ll go through some of the best answers to the question, which has received over 300 responses from actual business owners.

Before we begin, let’s provide context with the original question titled “Would you hire someone who has worked in the cannabis industry?”

Hi,

A friend of mine owns a company with around 60 employees. He recently interviewed a young woman for a job and he thought she seemed a good fit. That only problem Her work history includes approximately five years working in the legal cannabis industry in Colorado. This worried him enough to completely ignore her application. I found that odd as he otherwise thought they were great.

My question to this group is: Would you disparage a potential employee just because they used to work for a cannabis company? If yes why?

Thanks very much!
SOURCE: Reddit

As you can see, the person in this example is not stoned at work, nor has they openly promoted cannabis. The only violation in this example appears to be that the young woman in question simply worked in the cannabis industry for five years.

While this employer’s response was inherently bigoted, it gave me great pleasure to see how other business owners reacted to this situation. I personally have no problem with people’s pasts when it comes to employment. The only thing that should legitimately matter is whether or not they will provide a significant return on investment. A CV with cannabis experience is not the real problem.

Because from an employer’s perspective, the ROI of hiring an employee should make sense. When you hire someone, you want that person to accomplish a few things;

1. Complete a task you outsource (hopefully better than you could do it yourself)

2. Generate more revenue or time than the cost of maintaining the employee

3. Benefit from the company’s overall vision and mission.

It is really that easy. If you only consider these elements, then you eliminate all typical discriminating factors such as race, age, gender, etc.

In fact, that’s how we should all look at people in general – the value of their character and whether or not the individual adds net benefit to our lives.

Now let’s take a closer look at the responses from other small business owners.

Reddit replied!

The #1 comment on the thread was this;

I would never disregard the legal work history. This would be a bad business decision. There’s no point in turning down qualified candidates for something so irrelevant. – Brent

And it’s certainly an “irrelevant point.” As another Redditor pointed out, “If the OP’s friend didn’t do the same for someone who works in a bar or in the pharmaceutical industry, then he’s a hypocrite.”

It appears that the employer was arguing on moral or religious grounds, as opposed to critical business outcomes. The fact that someone has worked in the cannabis industry does not make them a “bad person,” regardless of whether federal law essentially says they are. In fact, according to the federal government, a person who uses cannabis cannot be trusted.

This was highlighted in a recent DOJ debacle, in which Biden’s DOJ asked a federal court to dismiss a case that would have set a precedent for cannabis users’ access to guns.

The Justice Department on Monday asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit aimed at overturning a policy that bars medical marijuana patients from buying or owning guns. The filling is based in part on the government’s position that it would be too “dangerous to trust regular marijuana users to exercise good judgment” with firearms.

In its argument for the dismissal, the DOJ also drew striking historical parallels to previous gun bans for groups such as Native Americans, Catholics, beggars, those who refuse to take an oath of allegiance to the government, and people who shoot while intoxicated.
SOURCE: Marijuana moment

I think it’s important to note that despite Biden’s “sorry” stunt, his DOJ actually feels this way about cannabis users. Furthermore, the fact that they cited that “Native Americans, Catholics, and beggars and those who refused to take an oath of allegiance to the government” was justification for their actions only goes to show how out of touch they are.

So you can’t really blame the original employer for reacting so bigoted. The fact of the matter is that a large proportion of people are still under the impression that cannabis is “bad” due to decades of propaganda campaigns by organizations like DARE and the like.

However, we can blame the original employer for not updating their position after all the social changes that have taken place in relation to cannabis over the past twenty years.

Another Redditor replied;

I’d go even further: There’s a strong case for hiring skilled people who are senselessly ignored by your competition.

Giving them a chance when no one else will and treating them well later will only make them more loyal to you.
– DJE781

The Redditor makes a good point. People who use cannabis and have worked in this field are always stigmatized for their involvement in the industry. Maybe not that much these days, but the Reddit post’s example lets us know it’s still happening.

As a result, the idea of ​​employing skilled workers who are normally shunned for hands-on work experience would gain more loyalty. You want loyal employees who feel part of your team. Giving people a chance can help build trust and loyalty in your employees — and that’s exactly what you need when you’re going through economic hardship.

You want a workforce that is willing to work for you because they believe in your cause. So giving someone like the “freelancer” a shot is a great way to cultivate that trust!

Another Redditor added to the conversation;

100% would hire someone to work in the cannabis industry. It is legal and the industry is very similar to the liquor industry which has many rules and regulations. So you know they will follow the rules if they don’t get fired if it’s cashier/budtender role, supervisor, manager. If it were marketing hell I’d say they’ve done a pretty good job with that over the past few years too
– TheDarkFalz617

This is another great point. In order to keep a cannabis dispensary operational, everyone must follow the rule of law to the last detail. This means that someone who has managed to navigate space five years in a row must be good at their job. It must be someone who has been able to comply with the government’s strict guidelines. In other words, the person who managed to keep their job for five years is able to follow orders and increase your bottom line.

This sentiment was echoed by this Redditor;

The cannabis industry is one of the most difficult and complicated industries to navigate. If someone can be successful in the legal cannabis industry, they can do anything. In no other industry are there more rules and regulations. If someone tells me they’ve worked in the cannabis industry, they probably go to the top of the list.
– Growdown420

As you can see, the vast majority of employers have no problem hiring someone who has worked in the cannabis space. Some even go so far as to only hire stoners.

I make machines for glass work. Pretty much all the glass workers I deal with smoke or grow weed. They are all good people. Years ago I made equipment for musicians. Almost all of them smoked or grew weed. I’ve never met a bad person involved with weed
-MpVprb

While I’ve met “bad people” associated with weed – a term I don’t usually like to use when referring to someone – the general idea of ​​people who use cannabis is that they are gentle, are easy to understand and it also seems that they are “fitter” when we assess BMI.

In addition, cannabis users tend to have fewer sick days. This was best illustrated in a Drug Policy Alliance blog post;

States where marijuana is legal have fewer employees calling in sick, a new study published in the journal Health Economics found. Companies that took part in the survey reported an 8 to 15 percent decrease in sick leave after legalization.

“Using the current population survey, the study finds that sickness-related absenteeism decreases following the legalization of medical marijuana,” wrote Darren Ullman, the study’s lead author. “The effect is stronger in states with ‘relaxed’ medical marijuana regulations, for full-time workers, and for middle-aged men, who are the group most likely to be medical marijuana card holders.”
source: DANGER

Let’s not fall victim to the causation vs. correlation debate, of course, but it’s interesting that states with more lax medical marijuana laws see more productive workers because they have fewer sick days. Also, just because someone has worked in the cannabis industry doesn’t mean they smoke weed. This is a big misconception that some people have.

Additionally, if they use marijuana for medical reasons, then “not using cannabis” would in all likelihood impair their ability to work, which would directly impact your ability to get a good ROI on hiring the person.

The sticky bottom line

There’s a reason Amazon is committed to legalizing cannabis. The fact is that over the next few years, more people will be smoking cannabis and cannabis use is preventing people from finding employment, meaning employers will have a smaller talent pool to choose from. This in turn means lower returns and limited options.

However, it’s good to know that for the most part, small business owners don’t care if the person working for them has any experience in the cannabis space. Let’s destigmatize cannabis use and start treating people on an individual level.

This may be difficult for some. Years of programming means they “believe” an untruth as their truth, and that’s why you’ll still see that kind of reaction. In the next 10 to 20 years, however, these reasons should completely disappear from the fabric of society.

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