Oklahoma’s medical cannabis industry continues to grow as workers leave other industries for the booming cannabis business. In an October Rotary meeting in Enid, Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Leslie Osborn said the medical cannabis industry has caused a “seismic shift” in the workplace.
Osborn cited three possible reasons affecting some industries’ abilities to find workers: low minimum wage, difficulty finding child care in some parts of Oklahoma, and the medical marijuana industry.
State Question 788 legalized medical cannabis in Oklahoma in 2018. Once it got rolling two years later, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and Osborn said hundreds of thousands of people are now working in the medical cannabis industry.
“Where did they come from? Probably our service industry,” Osborn said. “People went to (the medical cannabis industry) because they can make more than seven-something an hour. The average starting wage at dispensaries, grow houses and facilities [...] is somewhere between $12 and $15.”
Read the complete article at enidnews.com.
