Experiences of structural violence and wage theft among immigrant workers in the California cannabis industry

Abstract

The multibillion-dollar California cannabis (Cannabis sativa, marijuana) industry employs an unknown number of seasonal workers, including many immigrants. Most production occurs in the remote, rural, far-northern counties where farms may be hours by vehicle from the nearest town. While licenses for cannabis cultivation became available following legalization in California for adult recreational use in 2016, most cannabis—about 80%—is still grown on unlicensed farms. Cannabis is a labor-intensive crop, and the skilled and time-consuming task of hand-trimming flow­ers is the most common seasonal job in the indus­try. Some immigrant workers return for multiple cannabis harvest seasons and are attracted to the work by an interest in the cannabis culture and consumption or the opportunity to earn enough money in several months to live the rest of the year in their home country. Others are farmworkers moving from work in traditional crops for the rela­tively higher pay in the cannabis industry. Seasonal cannabis workers are exposed to many of the phys­ical hazards found in all agricultural workplaces, like dust, pesticides, and injuries; another common­ality with California’s traditional agricultural work­force is vulnerability to structural violence stem­ming from factors related to race, gender, immigra­tion status, and employer/employee power imbal­ance. Cannabis workers are also uniquely affected by the intersections of these structural fac­tors with the isolated and remote nature of canna­bis farms and the ongoing criminalization of the industry. In this article we present the results of a qualitative study of the occupational health and safety of Mexican and South American immigrant seasonal cannabis workers who have previous can­nabis-industry-specific skills and experience. Work­ers were recruited using a peer-recruitment method, with 25 participants in three online focus group discussions on a range of occupational health and safety topics. This qualitative descriptive analysis is focused on experiences of structural vio­lence and wage theft.