The cannabis industry of the past few years has shifted rapidly to allow for a massive amount of growth in the market. During that time, we have seen the number of companies grow rapidly as well, which has pushed the amount of jobs available way up. Currently, cannabis is legal in as many as 33 states throughout the U.S., but the substance still remains illegal on a federal level.

Despite the illegality of the substance federally, the job side of the industry has boomed quite quickly. Ten of the states that have legalized cannabis across the country have done so for recreational use which means that anyone over the age of 21 can purchase cannabis legally in those select places.

Jobs in the industry go anywhere from farm work to the frontline of dispensaries and all the way up to the executive level. At this point, it is somewhat difficult to discern how many jobs exactly there are in the market due to how infant it is all together. Additionally, the difficulty here arises from the body that studies the market itself, given that it is the United States Labor Department which is a federal department.

One analyst from a top job research institute stated that the number of cannabis jobs throughout the country is somewhere currently from 200,000 to 300,000. The pay scale in the industry ranges from agricultural work which stems at around minimum wage, all the way up to the top level of executives which can pay in the big six figures and more. One of the most popular job choices for some is working as a budtender. These individuals sit behind the counter at dispensaries and offer advice on what the best strain or product is for a given use or individual.

Recently, we have seen an explosion of jobs in the high-end part of the sector such as software engineers, chemists, and doctors who help to give patients advice on what they can use cannabis for. Since cannabis is such a broad spectrum treatment, it seems as though there are so many different ways to take advantage of the industry.

We have also seen growth in the high-end luxury side of the sector, showing that there is a large amount of money to be made with those who are willing to spend large amounts of money. The biggest issue that remains, however, is the fact that cannabis is still illegal federally. This has made the issue of hiring and paying employees quite difficult. This also affects how companies are able to run and how they are able to be conceived.

The hopes are that as the market continues to mature in the coming months to years, this issue will begin to settle down to allow the market to flourish to its greatest potential. All in all, cannabis remains one of the most exciting markets of the modern day whether it be for jobs or the pleasure of walking into a store and purchasing marijuana.

There was a time when Elon Musk’s live-streamed puff of marijuana would have only enhanced the image of an iconoclastic business magnate who can’t be bothered by social conventions in his quest to change the world. But an ill-advised tweet last month by the Tesla Inc. CEO led to serious questions about his stability and self-medication, changing the narrative in ways he seems not to have grasped.

“It’s particularly troubling given the issues that he has had already,” said Kabrina Chang, an associate professor at the Boston University Questrom School of Business, who studies corporate ethics and labor laws. “If I were a board member or investor, this would not give me a ton of confidence that he’s moving in that direction. It does not seem like forward progress in terms of governance and professionalism of Tesla.”

Musk, 47, sipped whiskey during a more than 2 1/2-hour podcast with comedian Joe Rogan late Thursday that touched on topics from flame throwers and artificial intelligence to the end of the universe. While he said he was “not a regular smoker of weed,” he took a drag from what Rogan described as a blunt containing tobacco mixed with marijuana, which is legal in California.

“You want some of it? You probably can’t because stockholders, right?” Rogan asked. Musk replied “I mean it’s legal, right?” and then took a drag.

Musk is under pressure to show competence. His spur-of-the-moment tweet that he planned to take Tesla private, only to drop the idea a little more than two weeks later, drew shareholder lawsuits and an investigation by federal securities regulators. His past jokes about tweeting after taking Ambien and drinking wine didn’t seem so funny anymore, and he defended his use of the prescription sleep aid in a New York Times interview.

Just hours after Musk finished smoking marijuana in the interview streamed live online, it was confirmed that both his chief accounting officer and head of human resources were leaving Tesla. The company’s shares fell 6.3 percent to $263.24, the lowest close since April 2, and have plunged about 30 percent since the day of his initial take-private tweets.

See story: Tesla Erupts in Chaos as Executives Leave, Musk Tokes Up

“The use of recreational drugs, legal or not, goes against the unspoken rules of being a public CEO,” Gene Munster, a managing partner at venture capital firm Loup Ventures and a longtime Tesla supporter, wrote Friday. Musk’s actions are making it “harder to support Tesla as a company,” even as the fundamentals are improving, Munster said.

Even in the cannabis industry, smoking weed as a CEO or top executive in a non-recreational setting is seen as unprofessional, Chris Walsh, founder and vice president of the publication Marijuana Business Daily, said in an interview. In the early days of the industry, it might have been common for people to use their product in a work setting, but those days have mostly passed, he said.

Getting high in an interview would be a non-starter, agreed Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech Corp., which runs Blum retail stores in California and Nevada selling recreational and medicinal cannabis products. His employees aren’t allowed to use marijuana in the workplace and there’s a clear policy to discourage abuse, even though it’s the company’s product line.

“I’ve been a CEO of our company since 2010 and I can’t think of a single time that I did that, to be frank, just because I put a significant separation in between my work and my social time,” Peterson said. “Especially in light of what he’s going through right now, from an optics perspective, I think those are the times you need to kind of hunker down and play a little bit of defense and not give any more to the naysayers.”

So far, legal precedent has favored a company’s right to fire an employee for testing positive for or using marijuana in a workplace, even when it’s been prescribed by a doctor, Chang said. That’s because while the drug is legal in some states, it remains illegal under federal law.

Tesla board members didn’t respond to requests for comment on Musk’s marijuana use. In a blog post announcing a series of promotions late Friday to fill several voids left by senior management departures, Musk made no reference to the episode, though he advised Tesla employees to ignore the news media and focus on Tesla’s growth.

For former Tesla production employee Crystal Guardado, the image of Musk enveloped in a cloud of smoke was particularly jarring, because she says the company fired her in last year for testing positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

“It was just like a slap in the face to me and my son,” said Guardado, a single mother who worked at Tesla’s Fremont, California, factory for four months before being dismissed. “Elon Musk is just smoking it out in the open, knowing that he uses his very vague drug policy as a way to fire people that are a threat to him.”

Guardado said she had previously notified Tesla of her outside-work, doctor-recommended use of drops that could make her test positive for THC. She contends that THC was used as a pretext to retaliate against her for being vocal about safety issues and supporting the United Auto Workers union.

Tesla said it hasn’t fired anyone for supporting the UAW organizing efforts. Guardado was terminated because she violated the substance abuse and testing policy, according to the company. Musk told the Guardian Friday that Tesla’s policy allows for trace amounts of THC in the body during work hours.

“The issue here is not whether smoking pot is ethical or not,” said Tae Wan Kim, an associate professor of business ethics at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. “It boils down to the basic assumption whether the CEO, as a trustee of Tesla’s stakeholders, has a duty to be aware of public reactions to his behaviors. As a free person, at least in California, Musk has right to smoke pot wherever he wants. But with his CEO hat on, he should have seen that his reactions would provoke negative impact from the Wall Street.”

The Tesla board needs to act quickly to get a handle on the situation, said Betsy Atkins, a director at companies including Volvo Cars and Wynn Resorts Ltd. The electric-car maker’s board needs to consider hiring an executive to assist with day-to-day operations, she said.

“As a board member at Tesla, it’s got to be clear to you that your CEO is in distress,” Atkins said in an interview. “It’s hard to see this behavior as other than either deliberate acting out, or a call for help. Or an, ‘I don’t give a hoot.’ It’s one of those things.”

–With assistance from Gabrielle Coppola and Dana Hull .

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan at jgreen16@bloomberg.net, Josh Eidelson in Washington at jeidelson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net.

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.

CHICO — The complexities and confusion around California’s new recreational cannabis regulations were obvious during Wednesday’s employers seminar, put on by the Chico Chamber of Commerce.

With more than 90 registered, questions were varied, and anxiety sometimes obvious.

The message from consultant Adrian Hoppes of Holden Law Group of Auburn is that there are clear steps that employers can take to protect their company and employees.

One statement that made attendees gasp was that any workplace can continue to be a drug free zone, with no need to accommodate cannabis use of any employee — medical or recreational — as long as the rules are applied equally to everyone.

Employers can still have a drug-free workplace, Hoppes said.

“They can forbid medical and recreational use,” she said. “Employers do not have to accommodate use of marijuana in the workplace.”

At the top of her recommendation list is for every workplace to have a clear policy regarding drugs in the workplace, and to make sure all employees know it.

It’s not only having a binder or poster displayed but making all employees read and sign the policy.

Even before an employee comes on board, awareness about the employer’s policy can be set. An employer, Hoppes said, can require a drug test after a job offer has been made, but not before. If the drug test shows evidence of marijuana, the offer can be withdrawn without penalty.

Once someone has been hired, an employer needs to be more careful not to single out someone without cause. Companies “should not do random drug testing,” but can prohibit possession and being under the influence, Hoppes explained. Random testing is allowed for businesses governed by the Department of Transportation regulations.

“Reasonable suspicion” can be the foundation for an employer’s action, but Hoppes warns that great care needs to be taken in gathering evidence.

Hoppes said she discourages an immediate reaction of finding marijuana use occurring after an accident and termination. She said Occupational Health and Safety Administration found that employees were not reporting worker compensation injuries after using marijuana because of the threat of testing.

Helping employers support testing are a list of suggestions that build a case under “reasonable suspicion” or as she explained what would lead a reasonable person to believe an employee is under the influence.

“Establish reasonable suspicion before sending anyone to testing,” she said.

The basis is how they are performing their job. “Focus on performance.” If they are having difficulties, talk to them. Ask they how they’re feeling or what’s happened to prevent them from doing their job.

Do they smell unusual? Are they having problems speaking or walking? Is someone else at the business able to chronicle their problem as well?

Hoppes said it could be that the employee implicates themselves voluntarily, especially if they believe the law shields them through privacy or medical marijuana use.

If an employer can fulfill these suggestions, Hoppes said they can require testing, but need the employee to be driven to the testing facility.

Businesses that have federal contracts or or have federal revenue must still be drug free because marijuana is still illegal at federal levels.

“You have to make sure that employees understand they can’t smoke or use.”

There should be a written zero tolerance policy that puts all employees on notice. The message needs to be clearly stated and repeated, and the policy signed.

Employers are concerned about difficulties they may face, so Hoppes said, “Spend that $100 and call an HR company. It’ll be cheaper than a lawsuit.”

Copies of the slides from the presentation can be requested from the Chico Chamber at 891-5556.