Is The Industry Real?
On the way back into the workforce after my three year hiatus from corporate America, I came across the idea of getting part time work at a marijuana dispensary. It seemed fitting simply because I like to smoke weed just as much as the next guy. Years of the toxic work life merry-go-round left me nauseous and resentful, so a seat on the train of a new industry was promising. I imagined cannabis was taking the express route to a bustling and bright future and I wanted in on the action.
Fate agreed and within months, I was interviewed and offered part time work at Curaleaf. Research on the company left me feeling even more hopeful, as their accomplishments and vision sounded encouraging. The mission was pretty standard: we care about the people, we care about the product, we care about you, and so on. They seemed professional, competent, and eager – you got the vibe that Curaleaf was going places.
But I’m no fool. I’ve worked for these “successful” fancy business types and I know their appearance is mostly lies, but I was in it for the opportunity and I figured at the very least, if I got in on the ground floor, opportunity would be ripe.
I walked in the door on my first day and I was almost immediately enamored with Curaleaf. The start-up mentality of management and workers was addictive. I had never worked with so many people that cared so much about something. I thought I stumbled across corporate nirvana – I couldn’t even believe I was getting paid to work there. The whole thing felt too good to be true and I greedily devoured my share of passion and enthusiasm. Maybe this was real, and maybe I finally found a company that actually believed in what they were doing. It must be the magic of the ganja.
Wrong.
What followed was a decisive decapitation of this vitality and passion for Curaleaf as the corporate America monster came closing in on the profits. Within months a new message was sent and it was very clear:
You and all your stoner friends are not welcome here, and we need to clean this place up with a “proper” image of cannabis culture – one that can be digested by our colleagues and shareholders.
Geeze. . . talk about the fight to erase the stigma.
I was faced with the reality that in spite of the efforts and passion that these so-called undesirables brought to a legal industry, they would always be viewed as less than if they didn’t follow the rules and get in line. It’s no big deal, law and order has its place, but it was clear that my passion and love for the plant was reflected in the people that I worked with, not in the lifeless branding Curaleaf claimed to uphold.
The profit driven corporate America cancer infected the company and one by one they began to drain once passionate and motivated people of all the hope they had for the future of legal marijuana. It was sad to see and a familiar feeling of rage started to build inside of me. I left the company after nine short months and gave up on the idea that the legal marijuana industry would have a positive effect on society.
Turns out the world is a big place. After a conversation with Rob, my good friend and trusted colleague, I quickly found out that this is a phenomenon that applies to the famously corrupt and bureaucratic state of Illinois. I’m not a politician, so the details of why and how this happened (yet again) bore me. As far as I see it, the future for Illinois in the cannabis industry looks bleak. There is something happening in cannabis, but with heavy regulations and mountainous barriers of entry, Illinioseans are only exposed to the most basic of it – that is, the freedom to go into a store and buy weed without the possibility of arrest.
I’m on the hunt for what’s happening in the community, how the people are embracing this new change, and the authentic culture that is developing outside of the conglomerate of greedy business owners who see these passionate people as their payday.
My frustration often races ahead of me, and my desperate attempt to catch it is addictive. Maybe it’s time to let go and light up with a resounding “it’s all good” and find a new way to celebrate the goodness of the plant and its potential to enhance our lives for the better. While there may be possible directions for MSO’s and their profits, there’s only one for cannabis – way up to the sky. All hail the mighty plant and it’s mighty wonders.