Job market for smokers?

[ranjas75]

Alright, my concern is simple and hopefully common... I'm concerned if I never stop smoking then I'll never land myself a good career... To some people a high paying career is of little concern but to me getting the things I want later in life require money. Now, I would like to state that since I started smoking I have had ZERO depression breakdowns in the last 2 years... This was something I struggled with immensely prior to smoking... Aside from that I also like the affects weed has on me (from the small things like the munchies to the big things like the affects it has on my personality). I can certainly say that if bud was legal then I would be a lifer for sure... but with the concern of a good job loomin around, and I'm 20 y/o which means I'm at that point in my life where I gotta started making decisions, I'm completely stumped.

Do I give up the thing that makes me feel "complete" (corny I know, but honest) and get a solid job or do I do what makes me happy in life and keep smokin away?

I've only been smoking for two years now and am still very young... but I fear that if I don't go back to college now then I never will (and that seems like a waste b/c I was a 4.0 college student, however, dropped out due to completely non-weed related issues, honestly) and yes I realize I can go to college and still smoke (duh) but whats the point of getting degree if I wont be clean for a random piss test anyhow? I could go on and on but don't wanna bore anyone.. Please, any advice on this subject would be greatly appreciated!

ranjas75 Reviewed by ranjas75 on 12-15-2008. Job market for smokers? Alright, my concern is simple and hopefully common... I'm concerned if I never stop smoking then I'll never land myself a good career... To some people a high paying career is of little concern but to me getting the things I want later in life require money. Now, I would like to state that since I started smoking I have had ZERO depression breakdowns in the last 2 years... This was something I struggled with immensely prior to smoking... Aside from that I also like the affects weed has on me Rating: 5

[TomBomb]

What's up man. I'm 19 (20 in a month), attend college, and also have high career goals so I can relate to what you're talking about.

My philosophy is that I'm going to smoke for the rest of my college career and just cheat on the piss tests (it's easy) or just stop a few months prior if it's something like a hair test. I think I can control myself as far as knowing when I should and shouldn't smoke and that's really what you need to make sure of if you want to smoke while trying to succeed in college. Just don't smoke immediately before, or after you study for tests or exams.

It sounds like chiefing improves your quality of life a lot so why not continue? You just need to stay on top of your shit and make sure your grades dont slip. You're a 4.0 student so I wouldn't think you'd have too much trouble with your classes.

As the exceptional physcian Dr. Dre once said.. Smoke weed every daaay.

[Kid Dynamite]

Use not abuse


smoke in moderation and you'll be fine

[XXBlaze of DesiréXX]

im 20, and i smoke everyday, all day, and Im very good at my job, I am searching for colleges right now, I live on my own, and I believe I am a talented, smart person, even tho i smoke all the time:jointsmile:

like the other person said, use in moderation, that fits ur lifestyle:jointsmile:



keep on tokin:stoned:

[JohnnyZ]

Happiness is subjective. Remember that ranjas, and never let anyone tell you what happy is. Forget your ambitions for that 100 thou a year job, that just puts you into the next tax bracket.

Money rules everything around you. Don't let it rule you too.

[BBoyShotty]

Aside from me saying the cliche of "money isn't everything", i don't see why you cant continue smoking throughout college (like someone suggested) and then go clean after you graduate? That's DOUBLE the smoking experience you already have(assuming 4 yrs post secondary), so who knows, maybe it'll be easy to say 'no more!' when you have to.

I myself was kind of in the same position a few years back (turning 21 in Aug). I went through some hard times, and had to reevaluate what i was doing with my life. Irealized that what I was going to school for was not what i ultimately wanted, but what was moreso EXPECTED of me...Firstly, get TIME out of your head..im glad i did. The problem for me was i kept worrying about "falling behind" the rest of society by taking a year off university, but in all honesty, whose to say i HAVE to/SHOULD be finished a degree and starting my career by 21/22?? I dont know about you, but i plan on making my early 20's the best times of my life. The way i see it, you wont have any other time to truly be free and just live life, worry free. I know now that id rather "fall behind society" a few years, in terms of starting my career, to have unforgettable experiences/stories/friendships that will stick with me for a lifetime.

Anyways, long story short, I dropped out of business school and enrolled in chefs school. The way i saw it was taking business was my "safety net" from high school, because basically that is what I knew I could do and be successful at. After a year of pure slacking (but sooo much fun in res ahah) i realized that my heart wasn't in it, and that getting my degree in business was basically just a BIG gamble to land a job to make money, one that i did not want to invest my BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE for. I guess i realized that living THAT lifestyle is not what would make me the most happy, most fulfilled in life..This way, I can finally pursue my dream career/what makes me happy and try working as a professional dancer for a few years, while i'm still relatively young, and ill have culinary/entrepreneurship to back up onto when my body decides to give out.Clearly, money isn't my TOP priority any more, but that's not to say i am doomed to forever live a life in the bottom/mid tax brackets..You just have to figure out a way to translate that 4.0 gpa from books, to life :P

I know this is kind of long, but I think reading about my situation may help you at least approach your situation from a sightly different perspective. Anyways...just my 2 cents i guess haha

[thcbongman]

Apply for small businesses, preferably one that is growing fast and need people right away. The likelihood of them drug testing is lower because they're preference is to control costs rather than heavily scutinize their applicants. I don't think any job market is deterrent being a stoner, not all jobs drug test, especially if you have a college degree. Even if they do, quit for a few days and dilute your system and it should be good to go.

This kind of attitude is defeatist.

I would tell anyone this if I had the chance. If I had to do it all over again, I'd hit the books first.

I just have a high school degree and there's some advantages of working first. You'll have a few more experience than the college-grad counterparts and you'll have more work-related maturity as well. You also requires a bit of luck because you can work hard and it won't pay off. It requires recognizing opportunities and taking advantage of them.

However now, I'm back in school and working full-time as well. I am doing this because I hit the ceiling when I was 20, so any work promotions are lateral, you learn a new environment, or a set of skills, but you don't really move up. Trust me, this life isn't fun. Finish school, just to acquire knowledge, do the basic classes until you figure out what you'd consider to major in.

Learning never stops. Once you finish school, you learn at work and after work If you want to succeed anywhere, you have to put the time in. That's all there is to it.

[ranjas75]

Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to respond to my post!! I didn't think I'd get this many responses this quickly!

I was really happy to see no one said I should just quit smoking... then again on a site called cannabis.com I don't think I really expected anyone to, lol. I've read and reread every post that you all responded with and have gathered that its pretty much okay to feel the way I do right now? A couple people mentioned going back to school to at least see what I would like to do with my life and when its put in that context I really really like the idea of going back to school.

I suppose I was thinking I had to choices in life...

1) feel good
2) have lots of $$$

Now after reading everyone's replies I'm seeing a possibly third option which is simply combining options one and two together... I think it would be fair to say though if you're going to accomplish both it's going to take a bit of luck AND hard work. thcbongman mentioned how going straight into the work force has its advantages but without a breathe of luck you may end up at a dead end.

So am I correct to believe that enrolling back into college and just focusing on the NOW portion of my life as opposed to worrying about graduating "on time with society" then things should fall into place on their own? I would like to believe that idea and am certainly up to the challenge but fear I may find myself here again 4 years from now asking the exact same question... only with a degree in hand.

Perhaps the next person I should be talking to is a career counselor?

JohnnyZ I agree completely with what you stated... I just don't want to be working at the same restaurant 10 years from now ya know? I can honestly say that when I try to think of a career choice that would allow me to support a family AND not have to worry about piss tests I come up blank =( And that's where my real fear kicks in.

Thanks again everyone for your responses!! Any further advice is most certainly welcomed and appreciated!!

[TomBomb]

Glad you were helped by our input!

I just wanted to reinforce to you that drug tests should not dictate whether or not you smoke. When the time comes for you to get tested for a serious job after college, they will usually let you know WELL in advance. Most people get job offers before they've graduated and the test would not be administered until either right before graduation, or in the summer after.

[TheHonorary]

I'm also in a similar situation. After taking a year off of school after high school, I worked for a year straight, made some money, got some neat stuff, but most importantly had lots of time to do a lot of thinking. During this time I picked up smoking weed. I'm a highly ambitious person and I've always been deterred from smoking because of the cliche associations of "wasting your life away" and being lazy and stupid, but during this year I realized how backwards this society is and therefore started to question it and all it's beliefs. The society that makes marijuana illegal and immoral, is the same society that praises conformity, materialism, and all the things that make it easy for the government to keep it's people in line. I think we all know how much more dangerous alcohol and tobacco are than marijuana to your health, and how dangerous hemp is to sustaining the money obsessed pharmaceutical, paper, oil and plastic companies and most other monopolies in the world. Weed, along with some other drugs, wakes you up to this in that it makes you think differently.

What you're experiencing is a conflict of interest. On one side you have your interests, being happy and not having to worry about irrelevant issues, being brought out from you through smoking weed. On the other side you have the interests of the corporations, to live a materialistic and money obsessed life, deeply imbedded into your way of thinking by the backwards society you were born into.

Once you really realize this, you are free to do as you feel right, without the guilt or the feeling that you're doing something wrong.

:angry3:

Hope this makes sense.
Peace.