Becoming a Cannabis Professional

Abstract

In recent years, U.S. states have relaxed their laws to permit the operation of a commercial cannabis market despite enduring federal criminalization. While media outlets commonly point to money as the primary motivator for working in the newly regulated cannabis industry, this article advances the alternative view that becoming a cannabis professional is linked to a broader process of drug‐related identity formation. Interviews with cannabis professionals reveal that commercial cannabis careers are facilitated through diverse moral meanings associated with this plant regardless of economic success. These meanings are filtered through imagined futures of the cannabis trade that draw people to cannabis occupations, increase their job commitment, and formalize their professional identities. In the spirit of reflecting on cannabis policy at the twilight of drug prohibition, this article sketches out new directions for studying the regulated cannabis trade and advocates for greater attention to the projective element of capitalism in the operation of legally contested markets.