Marijuana Tourism Jobs: Your High Away from Home

The legal marijuana industry is turning the collective American head toward opportunities for economic development in the prospectively multi-billion dollar business. Especially in Colorado and on the west coast, professionals from all different industries are looking to capitalize on the novelty of legal marijuana. Marijuana tourism jobs are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with as tourism intertwines cannabis culture and vacation, in hopes of mutually benefiting the marijuana industry and other associated industries.

Cannabis Tourism Today

In cities like Portland, Seattle and Denver, already booming tourism industries are only heightened and diversified by the addition of recreational marijuana legalization. Marijuana tourism jobs create opportunities to employ a wide range of individual in various sectors of the economy. Companies like Kush Tourism offer a variety of tours, vacation packages and even vape rentals.

Listed on their Seattle page as “The Kush Tour”, the company offers a comprehensive look into the Washington’s legal marijuana industry. The tour includes activities such as glass blowing, concentrate and edible extraction, as well as growing. Of course, the tour also stops at a local recreational marijuana dispensary. Not only does the package provide a survey of marijuana culture, it also educates tourists on the cannabis industry as a whole, shedding light on the plant and demystifying some common misconceptions.

Additionally, the company provides pot-friendly travel and lodging packages, offering a fully immersive marijuana experience. This kind of cross promotion between the cannabis and tourism industry has the capacity to bring in a lot of local money, especially as the industry continues to bloom.

State taxation rates on recreational marijuana are admittedly high; in fact high taxes are largely to thank for the passing of adult marijuana use at all. Even in more conservative state governments where elected officials might feel “morally” opposed to marijuana use, the appeal of bringing in massive amounts of money from tourism seems to outweigh their ethics. In states like Oregon where there is no sales tax, recreational marijuana taxation creates major potential for state and municipal development.

For travelers who are looking for more low-key vacation experiences, there are now options for marijuana-friendly vacation rentals that allow visitors to truly experience the vacation of their dreams. TravelTHC, known as the “Airbnb for Pot Smokers” is taking tourism into the hands of the traveler, allowing individuals to feel safe and comfortable with their cannabis habits, while away from home. This resource is especially valuable for medical patients who can’t travel unless such accommodations are met. Resources like this also promote a less stigmatized view of cannabis culture, opening doors for respectful weed aficionados who are seeking out legal options for cannabis consumption.

Top Marijuana Tourism Jobs

Marijuana tourism jobs run the gamut with positions that facilitate the marijuana tourism industry’s success. Many of these positions are customer service related jobs in hospitality and food service. For this reason, tourism careers are often entry level jobs that offer plenty of opportunities for eventual advancement to other sectors of the marijuana business. At the same time, fledgling tourism companies have the capacity to make a major mark on local commerce, opening up the possibility for significant financial gain.

Marijuana Tour Leader

Securing a position as a marijuana tour guide ensures that you are not only well-versed in the many facets of marijuana cultivation and distribution, but in the specific canna-culture of an individual city. Each metropolitan area where recreational marijuana is legal maintains its own unique history and individual regulations. Marijuana tours are successful when excitement in the legal cannabis industry is boosted and fear or apprehension of the substance is eliminated.

Even in states where marijuana is legal for adult use, consumers must still be careful not to overstep their bounds and wind up facing charges for marijuana unlawful use. The most prevalent example of this predicament is the use of marijuana in a public area. A common misconception for tourists visiting cities with recreational marijuana legislation is the belief that you can smoke pot wherever and whenever you want. Unfortunately, most city and state laws prohibit public smoking and will slap perpetrators with hefty fines–not a good way to end your vacation.

Marijuana Lounge Staff

If you’re feeling bummed about not being able to consume cannabis in public, but you desire the freeing feeling of open use, you might want to look into visiting a marijuana lounge or speakeasy. Marijuana lounges provide comfortable atmospheres where customers can hang out with friends, listen to music and vape openly. Speakeasies are the closest thing you’ll get to public smoking, which is why there are relatively few clubs allowed to operate countrywide.

Some marijuana dispensaries are authorized to sell cannabis products, as well as operate a lounge and provide vaping equipment to customers. Working as a lounge budtender can be a sweet marijuana tourism job, considering a higher frequency of tips than a regular dispensary budtender might experience.

Marijuana Chefs

A growing angle of marijuana tourism is of course focused on getting tourists high, then taking them to some of the best dining spots in the city; or, getting tourists high by serving them food cooked by marijuana chefs. Gone are the days of simple pot brownies–skilled marijuana chefs are using cannabutter and cannabis extraction techniques to cook five star meals that will leave you feeling full and buzzed. The marijuana tourism industry is beginning to benefit from the same artisanal appeal of wine and craft beer, as some buds appear further up on the hierarchy than others. As far as marijuana tourism jobs go, becoming a marijuana chef is a dream job for the cannabis consumer with a culinary craft. What better combination than fine weed and food?

Cannabis Spa Staff

For only the high rollers, costly spa, ski and yoga tour packages intertwine cannabis seamlessly into everyday activities. Perhaps a cannabis-oil massage and a finely crafted weed-spiked chai tea latte? Yoga instructors, estheticians, massage therapists and bodyworkers unite over a common belief in marijuana as a relaxant. Tour packages of this kind include not only the consumption of cannabis, but the use of cannabis and hemp products in resting and rejuvenating the body and soul.

Marijuana Delivery

The legal marijuana industry doesn’t appear confident in its placement of marijuana delivery as a valid consumer service. Some states and local municipalities allow for medical marijuana delivery to patients who otherwise may not be able to access products due to limited mobility; however, recreational delivery for tourists and resident adult cannabis users is experiencing more trouble becoming an established entity due to messy legislation surrounding marijuana possession and transport.

There are a healthy number of “underground” marijuana delivery services, but as far as the legal marijuana tourism jobs go, only time will tell. Ultimately, marijuana delivery helps to keep stoned people from wandering out of their house by plane, train and automobile toward a dispensary. Especially in the case of tourists who are marijuana novices, delivery can ease the visitor experience and provide yet another opportunity for job growth and economic prosperity.

Vape Rental Jobs

Vaporizer rental is a shrewd resource for introducing new marijuana users to the process of consuming cannabis, while also allowing for discretion. Vaporizers emit a nearly scentless vapor and refillable cartridges that create a simple, tame experience for individuals on vacation who don’t want to buy a glass pipe or other paraphernalia, just to leave it at the hotel before catching a flight back home.

While rental services cannot legally provide cannabis products along with vaporizers, they can deliver right to your door, which takes the traveling and waiting out of finding a method to consume your recreational cannabis.

Looking Toward the Future

While many individuals involved in the marijuana tourism industry are moving forward with trepidation, the coming years will show a massive expansion in marijuana tourism jobs and opportunities. Everything from car services that pick visitors up from the airport and take them to recreational dispensaries and in-depth lab tours of grow operations give hope for endless possibility for the marijuana industry as regulation becomes less stringent. Cannabis tourism is a cash cow–one that cities big and small will soon realize (if they haven’t already) can benefit the local economy with tremendous gravity.