With nearly 21,000 people working in marijuana dispensaries or affiliates, Arizona is ranked number 4 nationwide for jobs in the cannabis industry, according to a report released Tuesday by Leafly.
The report was based on employment in 2020 before Arizona started selling adult marijuana in January. Therefore, these numbers are sure to rise as pharmacies across the state surge to meet new demand for sales to adults over the age of 21, not just medical-marijuana patients.
Arizona had more than $ 1 billion in medical marijuana sales last year. It is estimated that around 5,600 new jobs were created just last year.
Jobs in the industry start at around $ 35,000 per year, but salaries exceed $ 60,000 for a variety of positions, with many managers making in excess of $ 100,000.
Leafly’s number of jobs estimate includes direct, indirect and part-time jobs in the cannabis industry. This includes licensed pharmacy workers and unlicensed workers in sideline jobs such as consulting, legal affairs, public relations, and government regulation.
Nationwide, 321,000 people work in the marijuana industry, an increase of 32% compared to 2019. This comes from Leafly’s fifth annual job report on the cannabis industry. Last year, 77,000 new jobs were created. Leafly is a national online pharmacy and product directory that produced the report with Whitney Economics of Portland, Oregon.
The top three states for legal marijuana jobs are California, with approximately 58,000 employees. Colorado with about 36,000; and Florida with about 31,000.
With only its medical marijuana program in 2020, Arizona’s cannabis workforce is larger than Washington and Oregon, both states that legalized marijuana years before Arizona. Arizona has about 300,000 people with medical cards that allow them to purchase marijuana from pharmacies without paying the 16% excise tax on recreational marijuana.
Marijuana sales in Arizona are now rising with dozens of pharmacies offering adult sales. This involved adding additional cash registers, additional pharmacies, and a host of new expansions to the marijuana farm across the state.
“It’s been a really exciting time since January,” said Steve Cottrel, president of Curaleaf Arizona. Based in Wakefield, Massachusetts, Curaleaf has eight medical marijuana dispensaries in Arizona, two more are planned, and 101 medical and recreational marijuana stores in 23 states.
“We still see a lot of people who don’t know about cannabis, brand new users every day,” he said of the Arizona sale.
The company hired 150 new employees to meet adult sales demand. That means the company has a total of almost 600 employees, said Cottrel. Another 100 hires are planned this year, he said.
“We’re looking for people who are interested in working, to be honest,” he said. “We’re looking for people who are interested in working and learning. We can train most people in this industry.”
New licenses required for employment
The state has a three-week backlog in approving new facility agent licenses for those new to the industry, Cottrel said.
“There is a serious bottleneck there,” he said. “You’re working on it, but it’s not going quickly.”
Under the Medical Marijuana Program, employees must be licensed as Dispensary Agents by the Department of Health Services. If the pharmacy offers recreational sales, the workers must be licensed as facility agents.
According to DHS, around 9,500 people had pharmacy cards in January.
The DHS says the backlog isn’t that bad. Since starting new applications on January 19, DHS has received 4,634 new applications for facility agents, spokesman Steve Elliott said Tuesday.
“Of these, 3,458 were closed (approved / denied / void) with an average time frame of 4.3 days,” he said.
Another 1,176 applications are yet to be approved or rejected, but 877 of those require correction or additional information from applicants, he said. Some of the remaining applications are new and won’t arrive until Tuesday.
More than 100 medical marijuana dispensaries in Arizona are now offering recreational marijuana sales.
Those already approved as dispensary agents could continue to work in these stores as long as they applied to be facility agents. However, new licenses for facility agents will take time as the Department of Health Services is inundated with applications, said Samuel Richard, executive director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association.
But that should get better, he said.
New license applicants must submit a full set of fingerprints in order for an industry background check to be performed. However, if an applicant already has a Level 1 fingerprint approval card from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which is required for a variety of other assignments, it can be submitted instead to expedite the application.
People with a criminal record for drug offenses cannot work in pharmacies. Some individuals with beliefs that can be erased thanks to the provisions in Proposition 207, passed in November that made the use of marijuana legal for adults, may be able to work in pharmacies after these records are erased.
“We can hardly wait for this day,” said Cottrel. “This really speaks to the social justice side of this new law. There are thousands upon thousands of people in this state who have minor cannabis violations and cannot work for us.”
Retail, manufacturing experience required
According to a separate analysis by Liesl Bernard, CEO of CannabizTeam, a recruitment and human resources company, marijuana companies are attracting workers from other sectors as they expand.
“They’re pulling out of retail,” she said. “They’re hiring scientists for testing, (people with experience in) consumer packaging and manufacturing. These are all breeding grounds for finding talent. And every cannabis company needs to hire executives, marketers, and CFOs.”
Experience in the cannabis industry is helpful in getting a job, but that’s not always possible because many of the jobs are so new, she said.
“There is nothing wrong with saying I have more industry knowledge,” she said of those who grow cannabis or have other experience. “Most cannabis companies are just starting out. They’re hiring people who can think creatively.”
And the jobs can pay off well. According to CannabizTeam, below are the national median salaries for some positions in the industry.
- $ 32,000 for a “trimmer” or someone who works on a marijuana farm.
- $ 37,000 for a budget tender working in a retail pharmacy.
- $ 52,000 for an extraction technician who works at facilities that make marijuana extracts.
- $ 63,000 for a warehouse technician.
- $ 71,000 for a plant breeder.
- $ 75,000 for an area sales manager.
- $ 75,000 for a social media manager.
- $ 85,000 for a pharmacy manager.
- $ 175,000 for a human resources manager.
- $ 188,000 for a chief science officer.
- $ 189,000 for a cultivation director.
- $ 330,000 for a chief financial officer.
The company’s analysis finds that the average wages in the Phoenix market are nearly 1% higher than those listed, while those in the Tucson area are about 3.5% lower.
Reach out to reporter Ryan Randazzo at Ryan.Randazzo@ arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4331. Follow him on Twitter @UtilityReporter.
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