WORKING FOR THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY IS ACTIVISM

With recreational, adult-use marijuana being legal in Oregon for three years now, those working in the cannabis industry see some stability, yet face many challenges on the job. So long as the grass is still illegal on a federal level, day-to-day life in the industry comes with some level of stress and paranoia.

Since cannabis is still classified as a Schedule I controlled substance by the DEA, and the U.S. Attorney General has been quite antagonistic towards cannabis, the names of the sources for this story have been changed to protect their privacy.

According to “Jim,” a gardener at a Portland marijuana farm, the laws governing the production and sales of adult-use cannabis are constantly in flux. The regulation of medicinal use cannabis has been around in Oregon since the 1990s, but with the legalization of recreational, adult-use (approved by voters in November 2014), a whole new market exists and the state faces challenges to keep it under control.

“There’s this green market you have to deal with – you can be told a very specific interpretation of a law into an administrative rule, but then two weeks later, the (state legislative) joint committee on Measure 91 has changed their perspective on it because of a recommendation from (its) advisory committee,” said Jim.

Business still a bit ‘crazy’

Since 2014, the “green market” has seen tremendous growth. The tumultuous scramble to figure out the best path for regulation seems to have settled, but there is no certainty when it comes to forecasting the future of regulation.

“I would like to believe we area at the tail end of that in Oregon and things are settling, but there’s no telling because everyone keeps saying, ‘It’s going to settle,’ and then it just gets crazier,” said Jim.

With U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinding the Cole memo (which required/permitted the states to come up with their own systems of regulation) and President Donald Trump’s praise of the Philippines’ dictator-leader Rodrigo Duterte’s ordered executions of drug dealers, a paranoia sets in on the day-to-day workplace of a marijuana farmer.

“You tell yourself, ‘No, this is not going to happen, that’s an extreme off chance.’ But then you work in a windowless room, and all day you’re wondering ‘if the DEA did come in, where would I go?’ ” said “Albert,” a farming colleague of Jim’s.

Regarding the potential of federal legalization in the future, Jim said it’s like “reading tea leaves. I know what I advocate for, but who the fuck knows what’s going to happen?”

Albert said that if John Boehner (former Republican Speaker of the House who, according to the Washington Post, previously said he was “unalterably opposed” to decriminalizing marijuana laws) can change his mind, then there is hope. Boehner these days is a board member of Acreage Holdings, an investment company that produces cannabis and operates dispensaries in 11 states.

Daily form of protest

With the legalization of cannabis in Washington state, billboards for Weedmaps (a service similar to “Yelp!” that provides locations and reviews of legal dispensaries) that declare the benefits of cannabis have been popping up there. The boards are mostly propaganda, according to Jim. Some refer to about marijuana’s contribution to a decrease in opioid use in the state. “I can definitely say it beats heroin, it beats the shit out of it and stabs it a couple times,” he said.

When it comes to working as a cannabis farmer, the job itself is satisfying, both men say.

“On my worst day working in the garden, it is still ten times better than my best days working in the service industry, hands-down,” said Jim.

“You still get a sense of gratification when you see a large amount of weed – like, a really large amount. It’s like the law of diminishing returns doesn’t apply and just that little eighth-grader in the back of your head goes, ‘Haha, that’s a lot of weed!’ and you just get real stoked,” said Albert.

“There’s something juvenile about it for sure,” added Jim.

“It’s just gardening, and you get to do it high,” said Albert.

While it’s still illegal on a federal level, working as a marijuana farmer remains a form of rebellion. “My job is activism,” said Jim. “I go to work and by virtue of watering a plant, I am saying to the government that they’re wrong every day. It’s so stupid, and I always overlook that shit, but I go to work in protest of stupid laws every goddamn day. It’s fucking awesome.”

Another perk of working on a weed farm is that the plants enjoy the same type of music Albert does, which is metal. “It’s because they like the higher frequency, and it’s the fastest music,” he said.