The Ruckus Rant: Know Your Cannabis

“Hey man, you got the coolest job! I want to get into the industry.” This is what I hear on nearly a daily basis.
The thing is, yes it’s the best job I’ve ever had in my life. But it takes a lot of work to be able to do any job in this industry. I mean, from growers and concentrate makers to budtenders and edible cooks, this shouldn’t be something you just jump into. People’s lives are at stake. It’s the one thing in life that even I take serious and I hate being serious.

Luckily, in my case, this is something I’ve been studying for years. But for others, this is something brand new. Please, if you’re looking to get into the field, start studying. Start taking classes. It’s not just “selling weed” anymore. You need to learn all the methods of ingestion. You need to know what terpenes are and what each one does. You need to understand most diseases.

The worst day I’ve ever had working at a dispensary was the day I didn’t know about a certain patient’s ailment and I had to make them wait while I looked it up. Since that day, I’ve spent countless hours just looking up different diseases and then crossing that with what terpene/cannabinoid profile will help with the symptoms.
There are all kinds of websites and local educational seminars and classes going on in Las Vegas right now. Educating yourself is a great place to start. And, once educated, this amazing industry will open its doors for you. With recreational use right around the corner, everyone is going to be hiring and more people will be needed.
If you’re reading this, more than likely you’re already a medical patient and you have already had to deal with an under-educated budtender. With recreational use on the horizon, there will be even more customers and patients that will need education to keep them from harm. Be one of the shining examples by knowing your shit, and you won’t have a problem getting a job that will help you sleep with a full heart knowing you made someone’s life better.
You do not want to be the budtender who give a sativa strain to a PTSD patient which made them bounce off the goddamn walls, or be the one who offers a cancer patient a sugar-filled edible when sugar feeds cancer. These things are happening. I hear the horror stories daily of people who were sold the exact opposite of what they needed. I can’t stress this enough, people’s lives are at stake! Please educate yourself first, then come get into the best job industry ever!

Rob Ruckus is a Nevada medical marijuana patient, and budtender at Inyo Fine Cannabis, a long-time Las Vegas resident and cannabis activist, star of A&E’s Bad Ink, musician and host of Ruckus on the Radio.