Holy smokes.
Cannabis legality has caught wind across the Atlantic and become A-OK in Colorado and Washington state. So, logically, it’s time for article writers to jump on that ganja-powered bandwagon. As the NPR pointed out last month, there is a stash of green jobs ready and waiting for pot head- I mean, pot minded folk. While bud tenders, plant trimmers and edibles developers aka canna-cooks are all the rage, those jobs aren’t meant for us writers.
Never fear!
Here we are going to hash out some highly likely jobs meant for writers who want to cash in on the space cakes, cannabutter and bhang without feeling the buzz.
Mary Jane Journalists
Smoking pot and talking about it will no longer get a journalist canned. In fact, while the actual smoking part is a Gray Area, writing informatively and to the beat about marijuana can now be included on your resume. Whereas in the past journalists focused on the criminal enterprise of pot smokers and dealers, today’s news audience expects to hear about the latest medical news, legalization and other cultural aspects surrounding the always shady world of kush.
Alternatively, those writers up to the task of toking can find writing work in Colorado that involves inhaling the green in exchange for greenbacks. For instance, the Denver Post has a website, thecannibist.co, which has employed freelance journalists who review strains with names like “Presidential Kush,” “Jim Morrison,” and “Blue Dream” in order to partake Gonzo-style in the journalistic process.
Pot Bloggers
Let’s be honest. Pot bloggers have always existed. However, it wasn’t until the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington that these blogs became a legitimate place for professional writers to roll up posts worth their wages. Take Seattle PI owned by Hearst Seattle Media, which operates the blog called fittingly The Pot Blog. Here writers can hash out posts about the politics, culture and legal changes taking place in Washington state regarding, wait. What were we talking about?
Oh, yea…pot.
So what do you need to do to move from self-professed canna-researcher to a writer in the niche known as marihuana? Start by doing your cannabis research with a focus on any or all of these areas:
- Legalization
- Marijuana for medical purposes
- Financial issues for growers and sellers
- Cannabis culture
- Social movements
- Recipes for marijuana and hash
- Smoking alternatives
There’s something for every type of writer here, if you are OK with having your work computer flooded with incriminating 420 searches of the Internet. According to High Times, the cannabis industry is expected “to grow by 64 percent, to over $2 billion, in 2014” alone. As a result of the cash cow that cannabis is becoming, High Times predicts that by 2018, 14 other states will legalize recreational pot smoking…and eating and vaping and all those newfangled ways pot smokers have to get high.
Whether or not you are a pot smoker, advocate or supporter, one thing’s for sure. This whole recreational marijuana thing isn’t about to go up in smoke anytime soon.
So as a writer, are you for or against the marijuana movement? Will you be adding green eggs to your basket?
Miranda B writes wherever she goes and about whatever she does, which makes for some highly entertaining and often surprising content.
