Long Island 'budtenders' climb cannabis career ladder at area dispensaries

As a teenager, Johnna Lada's mother gave her a classic parental warning: stop smoking marijuana or you’ll never land a job. 

“Now, my job is weed," Lada said with a laugh in April at Planet Nugg, a recreational dispensary in Farmingdale, where the 27-year-old Shirley resident works as a budtender. "I showed her!"

At Planet Nugg and other dispensaries on Long Island, budtenders serve as trusted guides, translators and educators in New York's growing cannabis retail industry.  These workers field detailed product questions, coach newcomers through first-time purchases and help patients manage chronic pain, anxiety and sleep disorders.

Linda Montalvo, 72, of Selden, said she doesn’t smoke but needed something to ease the pain of her arthritis. A friend recommended Beleaf in Calverton, where a budtender there helped her pick a topical ointment last month.

“I had such a lovely experience,” she said. “I was nervous about going inside, but everyone was so nice and didn’t mind that I didn’t know what I was looking for.”

Montalvo’s experience illustrates how budtenders act as cultural bridges and product experts — combining retail expertise with concierge-level care.

Those with prior retail experience often have a higher chance of being promoted quickly, said Emmanuela "Venus" Isichei, a job coach with the Borough of Manhattan Community College's Cannabis Workforce and Business Development program. 

“The industry is just now establishing itself,” she said. “If a budtender comes in and shows they have a wide range of skill sets, they may be promoted as quickly as a month.” 

She said most aspiring budtenders she's seen range in age from 21 to 40, and called the profession "a great entry point with upward mobility."

A budding career

The Office of Cannabis Management has yet to release data on how many budtenders are employed in New York state or at Long Island's five recreational and seven medicinal dispensaries. Cannabis jobs platform Vangst reported 440,445 full-time cannabis workers in the United States at the end of 2023, with about 2,050 in New York.

While there is no official data on how many full-time cannabis workers are employed on Long Island, Newsday asked the three dispensaries included in this story for staffing numbers. Beleaf confirmed that it employs 22 budtenders, while Planet Nugg employs 45. Strain Stars did not have figures to share by press time.

A 2024 report by Vangst found that the median national salary for a budtender is $42,000. That is higher than the average salary for retail workers in the United States, which was $33,900 in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

With advancement opportunities for management positions, the budtender role can be a launchpad for other jobs. Nationally, an inventory manager's salary can range from $40,000 to $80,000, according to Vangst. Higher-paying roles include store managers at $70,000-$90,000 and retail directors at $80,000-$120,000. Vangst does not currently have specific salary ranges for New York.

Hicksville resident Yuvraj Singh, owner of Strain Stars, which has locations in Farmingdale and Riverhead, said helping employees grow professionally is central to his business model. 

“We’ve worked from the start to make our employees progress in their career,” Singh said. “Some have even gone on to management roles or work at our other store. We try to offer our workers an actual career.”

Patchogue resident Chris Shilling, who manages Beleaf, studied biology at Stony Brook University and worked in retail before joining the medical dispensary Columbia Cares in Riverhead in 2016.

“I was unsure of what I was going to do with my degree,” said Shilling, 35.

Starting as a "consultant" at Columbia Cares — a role Shilling said was equivalent to budtending — offered him a path that merged his interest in science with customer service and cannabis education. He has been with Beleaf since it opened in October 2024

For C.J. Archer, a former asbestos worker and now budtender at Beleaf, the job has been about breaking down stigma — at work and in his family.

“I’ve been able to educate my parents on it,” said Archer, of Rocky Point, who also coaches wrestling at Rocky Point School District. Archer brought his father to the dispensary; he now occasionally visits his son's workplace as a customer.

But the job is not without challenges. Wages and high turnover rates have been issues. Vangst surveyed full-time cannabis workers in its 2024 report and found job satisfaction was high among respondents, but 63% were looking for their next job in the cannabis world, and only 15% of employees said they were able to secure in-house promotions.

The Vangst report estimated that 95% of the state's cannabis demand is dominated by the unlicensed market. Still, the regulated adult-use industry has grown in New York and proven lucrative — the Office of Cannabis management reported $918.7 million in total retail sales since New York launched the regulated adult-use market in 2022.

Isichei said that she has also seen dispensaries over-hire when they first open, only to lay off staff quickly as demand slows. 

“Some employers — not all — have a mindset of ‘if you’re not going to be what I want at this time, someone else will,’” Isichei said. “And that mindset is difficult to circumvent.”

While there is a union for cannabis workers in New York state — Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW — none of the dispensaries that Newsday spoke to are currently unionized.

As the industry matures in New York, Isichei said she believes there will be a stronger push for unionization to improve work conditions and secure more benefits, such as health insurance. 

"There are many cases where employees aren't getting health insurance or benefits they need to make this an actual career beyond a job," Isichei said.

Some dispensaries on Long Island are further along than others in that regard — Planet Nugg offers health, dental and vision plans, but Beleaf and Strain Stars are still developing benefits packages, according to management.

Trained and regulated

The state’s Office of Cannabis Management recently launched new training for all cannabis workers, covering everything from health and safety to labor rights, regulatory compliance and implicit bias.

“We have responsible workforce training for everyone across the supply chain,” said Olivia Cahill, a program analyst at the office.

According to a study by the cannabis legalization advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project, Black people are over three times more likely to be arrested for cannabis-related offenses than white people. New York requires implicit bias training and cultural competency training, which teaches workers the history of cannabis in New York and law enforcement's record of disproportionately targeting Black people and other people of color, Cahill said. 

She added that the training is meant to give employees some knowledge and context about their industry so they can work to destigmatize cannabis for new customers.

“We’re not just training people to do a job,” Cahill said. “We’re trying to build a workforce that understands the roots of cannabis prohibition and is part of correcting those injustices.” 

At Planet Nugg, Ariana Costa, 27, has worked in both the hemp and cannabis sectors. She's used to the flurry of new training requirements that workers sometimes face.

“There’s a lot to keep up with,” said the East Setauket resident. “There’s nonstop change [in policies] and laws.” 

Strain Stars, Beleaf and Planet Nugg all hold weekly training sessions where brand reps break down their products for budtenders.

Budtenders are also encouraged to sample products — something you won’t find at most retail jobs.

“It’s an interesting retail experience,” Shilling said. “I’ve worked at shoe stores before, and everyone knows what shoes are. A lot of people come in and have never smoked cannabis before. Here, you’re helping people live their lifestyle.”