Hiring High: Legalized Marijuana In California Sprouts Hundreds Of Cannabis Careers

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - California's cash crop is sprouting a new kind of green: "cannabis careers."

The state is on a hiring high, for hundreds of new positions in charge of bringing order to the recreational pot business becoming legal in January.

That may be a few months away, but the agency regulating the stuff says it wants you to apply as fast as a video meme of actor Jim Carrey typing furiously.

"The need is extremely urgent," said Alex Traverso.

Alex Traverso is with the state's brand new and expanding Bureau of Cannabis Control.

By the end of the year, his agency plans to go from a handful of workers to close to a hundred, if it can find qualified people; those who can issue licenses, write regulations and collect taxes.

But it doesn't stop at accountants and attorneys.

Other state agencies are in on the buzz too, in need of everyone from secretaries and typists to environmentalists and enforcers.

"Fish and wildlife is a prime example… they deal with so much with illegal grows…with cracking down on illegal grows," said Traverso.

Some of the work is highly specialized.

"Research scientists with biological or plant-based disciplines ... and they may recruit specifically for those jobs," said Michelle Allen who teaches a class on how to get a state job.

But State Job Guru Michelle Allen says, just apply.

Go online to the brand new state jobs site: Jobs.CA.Gov; create your online profile, and take as many exams as you can.

"Let's just take the bigger picture. Right now there are 4,000 state job openings statewide. So a lot of the people looking for state jobs can look right now online, granted working for the Bureau of Cannabis Control has a certain little flare and it might be wonderful for cocktail chatter," said Allen.