Blunt Talk: What Marijuana Pharmacy Workers Want

I am an office assistant at the Venice Beach Care Center, a medical cannabis dispensary. I’m also a student at Santa Monica College studying kinesiology. I love my job because it gives me a chance to give back and make a difference — some people who live in pain have chosen an alternative way of healing to manage their sickness, and we are here for them. My job also gives me a chance to interact with people, sharpen my communications skills and develop compassion for patients who need our help.

Every day I wake up and realize I’m a part of something new and historical — and I hope that people’s views of  the medical cannabis industry and of employees like myself are changing. Just like other American workers, I dream of a better life for myself — the future I create starts here today, small and local.

Working at the dispensary has made it possible for me to put myself through school and help support my mom. Jobs like mine also help my community remain a thriving place to live in. We need our jobs to live and survive — we shouldn’t be punished for the job that was to many the only option.

This industry should provide good living wage jobs with basic benefits, like any other business. We need job security and my job, which happens to  give a new holistic approach to medicine, also benefits the economy.  I am part of the cannabis workers union movement because it will fight to keep good jobs and help elevate the standards for the different collectives within our union.