I didn't see this earlier, but Rebecca Trager's in Chemistry World article sounds interesting:
Chemists in demand as cannabis industry experiences explosive growth
The US’s rapidly growing cannabis industry – medical and recreational – desperately needs chemists. That was the conclusion of a session at the American Chemical Society’s spring conference in Denver, Colorado, on 23 March. ‘We need chemists to tell us what we have,’ said Chloe Villano, founder of the Colorado-based cannabis business consulting company Clover Leaf.
She said a better understanding of the science behind cannabis is essential to providing safer and better products, which include oils, extracts and edibles. Chemists can help by, among other things, analysing samples to examine microbiologicals and providing residual solvent testing to ensure cannabis concentrates are free of impurities, Villano suggested...It would be great if there was some sort of data about the increase in chemistry jobs in the cannabis field - somehow I doubt we're going to see that any time soon. That said, if this is your thing, now might be the time...
(You know what would be the best measurement? Used analytical equipment sales in Colorado and Washington, I'll bet. Also, I wonder if the big instrumental companies have decided if they're going to sell to these labs...?)
The perfect hire for such an industry: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/apr/03/tommy-chong-carlsbad-budgenius/
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting is that six months ago you agreed that "this is a growing field" (http://chemjobber.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/is-acs-ready-for-cannabis-chemistry.html), while in this post you doubt that there will be an increase in chemistry jobs in the cannabis field. The only way for this not to be a contradiction would be if you meant it quite literally, in which case, yes, regardless of the job market, cannabis fields are indeed growing.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a contradiction. I said that I thought it would be a growing field (here's another place: http://chemjobber.blogspot.com/2014/12/daily-pump-trap-12214-edition.html) and I still think so.
DeleteBut what I said above was that I would like some data, and I doubt that any would be forthcoming. Make sense?
Ah right, sorry, interpreted your comment differently...
DeleteYeah yeah, at first there may have been a bunch of high paying jobs but now anyone can go to youtube and learn how to distill cannabis and all you see is near minimum wage "distillation technician"
DeleteKeep in mind that any and all distillation of cannabis for THC or CBD is illegal under Federal Law, and if you don't think they are busting these operations just do some google searching about the DEA busting state licensed cannabis operations.
jobs. There seems to be analytical chemistry jobs but they aren't paying that well either.
analytical companies are already in this market. a friend works on the west coast for a large analytical company that supplies SPE equipment for isolation of certain oils. it would be my guess that they are hoping these groups eventually turn to some sort of gc/ms or hplc/ms based analysis of their product for qc and qa purposes.
ReplyDeleteCraigslist on the west coast is also advertising positions for a natural product chemist, working out of Sacramento for a cannabis company.
ReplyDeleteI thought about a job in the business being from CO, but I realized it might be awhile before I could get a job outside cannabis if I did.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a B.S. or do you have a higher degree? Is it dangerous to say that once you enter the cannabis industry that you'll be unable to switch to different industries? I'm a college student majoring in Chemical Biology who's interested in entering the cannabis industry, but I do not know how high the market value will reach.
DeleteNo one knows what the long-term results of younger chemists entering the cannabis industry will be, and how they will be viewed by the the larger chemical industry. If you're looking for a crystal ball or soothsayers, you should go somewhere else.
DeleteIf you are willing to take the risk, you may reap some very lucrative rewards. You also run the risk of not being able to transition to a more traditional field. We just don't know.
I suspect if the company has a generic, corporate-sounding name, you might be able to hide it on your resume- something like "QC Chemist at KT Technologies, analysis of natural products by HPLC and GC-MS." People do this all the time in unsavory industries, like if you're an accountant at an adult website company and are applying to an accountant job somewhere else.
DeleteDo a google search for the DEA busting "State authorized" cannabis operations. They are taking these operations down on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteDo you need a job that bad??
If they want to hire you ask them if they'll put 100K in an escrow account for your legal defense!
Most of the people running these operations are crooks, they aren't on site usually either.
Imagine you working in their warehouse extracting cannabis all day long, you are a sitting duck. The DEA will see you coming and going, when they break down the doors you'll get busted.
Oh yeah, all the "CBD" people will tell you that it's legal too, go and read in detail what the DEA has to say about "extracts from the flowering tops of the hemp plant".