I Had a Successful Business With Customers That Liked Me. A New Law Changed Everything.

A person with 15 years of experience selling weed faces declining business after legalization and the spread of dispensaries. They struggle financially and experience depression and social isolation as customers stop coming. They also feel unemployable because of a long gap in a traditional résumé. The proposed path is to use cannabis knowledge to enter the legal cannabis industry. Working at a dispensary is presented as a practical option that can provide income, structure, and opportunities to meet new people. The guidance emphasizes that the skills developed in the prior role can translate into legitimate employment within the growing market.

"My Boyfriend and I Are Deeply in Love. But There's a Big Part of His Life He's Keeping From Me. Hey, look on the bright side-at least A.I. didn't take your job! I know, I know, it's small consolation, but I do think the good news is that there is an entire industry out there that I think would be very interested in someone with your cannabis knowledge. Yes, I am suggesting that you go work at a dispensary. Why not"

"I've been a weed dealer for 15 years in a state that legalized pot, and now there are dispensaries everywhere. I've kept a considerable number of my customers (I'm much cheaper than dispensaries and, at the risk of sounding pretentious, I'm a great guy, and people generally really like me). Nonetheless, I've been losing business slowly but surely: People move away, die, quit smoking, or just go to a dispensary because it's closer. It's hard to get new customers now because there are just dispensaries all over."

"Which brings me to my problem: Not only am I now struggling to pay my bills, a problem I haven't had in more than a decade, but I get terrible depression because I feel abandoned by fake friends who stopped coming to me. It also seems basically impossible for me to get a job. I was unemployed all of 2012 after being laid off and no one would hire me, and now it's worse because I have this, ahem, gap in my résumé."

"I feel like working would lift my spirits; I could meet some new people, and get a second stream of income. I'd take almost anything at this point! But how do I start? Who would hire someone who hasn't had a legit job in 15 years?! I get on these bummers, and feel so hopeless. Selling weed was the only thing I was ever good at."

Read at Slate Magazine