Image courtesy of Ben Beiske at Flickr
*Begin rant*
The Washington Federation of Marijuana Businesses did a spring 2015 survey and learned that 27.55% of the state’s recreational cannabis licensees and applicants that responded were between the ages of 30 and 39. I’m one of them.
Do you know what many people do in that age bracket? We have kids. People often say that the first five years after having a child are some of the hardest. In the next breath, they tell your sleep-deprived, snot-covered, financially-strapped persona, with a screaming child in your arms and whining toddler on your leg, to “treasure this time because it goes so fast.” You smile and nod pleasantly, wondering if the person across from you can recall the last time their child had poop up to their neck at the grocery store, with a full cart and no extra clothes in the diaper bag.
Washington state worked hard to encourage small businesses to enter the legal, regulated cannabis industry — and I appreciate and commend them for that.
However, the law that people under 21 are not permitted on the premises of marijuana businesses is a total pain in the side to those of us trying to run a family business. What the heck am I supposed to do with my kids when I need to spend 15 minutes tightening loose ends at work? Or after preschool when I get a last-minute order that wants product delivered as quickly as possible.
I can’t leave them in the car; that’s illegal.
I can’t let them play in the parking lot; that’s dangerous.
It takes more time to drive to the babysitter’s house (or grandma’s) than I need to spend at work.
I’m stuck choosing between the success of my business or time with my family. I don’t think cannabis business owners should have to make that choice any more than other start-ups have to.
I’m sure the Liquor and Cannabis Board added this rule to “protect the children,” but if the state wants to encourage small, mom-and-pop farms to succeed, allowing our children to come to work with us would really help about 27.55% of us out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking to break any child labor laws; I just want to be able to sit next to my coloring kids while I sticker my 486,397th package. I’m sure I could find some way around the rule by leasing our office space to some useless LLC I start with the sole purpose of allowing me to be there with my kids, but what a pain in the rear!
I realize that this problem probably affects indoor growers more than sun growers, as many single family residences are probably located within shouting distance of their outdoor field. But if you have a baby, wouldn’t it be convenient if you could have that sleeping/nursing/staring baby in the Ergo baby carrier while picking fan leaves?
You want to lower teen substance use and abuse? Why not start with encouraging a healthy family nucleus? And why not start right here with cannabis business owners?
In the meantime, I’ll rock-paper-scissors my husband to see who gets to spend time with the kids and who gets to go weigh more one-grammers.
*End rant*
Danielle Rosellison is part of the team at Trail Blazin’ Productions, a licensed producer/processor. She is a board member for the Washington Federation of Marijuana Businesses and the creator of the 502Cannabis Google Group.