At Las Vegas ReLeaf, our expert staff is second to none, which is why we want to highlight team members who go above and beyond every day they come into work. This month, Las Vegas ReLeaf wants to highlight Josh Smith for his continued dedication to the medical marijuana patient and the team. Josh is an invaluable member of Las Vegas ReLeaf.  

Las Vegas ReLeaf August Staff Spotlight – Josh Smith

Josh Smith is a cannabis consultant with Las Vegas ReLeaf. Commonly called a budtender, Josh helps patients in selecting the medication best for their medical conditions. Josh also assists in setting up all the displays and ensuring enough product is available to share with patients.

Experience at Las Vegas ReLeaf

For Josh, Las Vegas ReLeaf is his first official job in the industry, but he’s been a medical marijuana patient for over two years. Why did he choose Las Vegas ReLeaf above other marijuana dispensaries in Las Vegas? In his own words, Josh explains that Las Vegas ReLeaf “just seemed to be the most professional and business oriented…and are the ones who really do care about the truly sick patients.” Josh explains further that Las Vegas ReLeaf has positioned itself as a Las Vegas marijuana dispensary that really does want to help the sick people, including veterans who need medical help. Josh states, “We really try to help out the veterans” and other sick people. This dedication to the medical marijuana patient is what stood out to him when he first came on board.
What Josh loves best about working at Las Vegas ReLeaf is the patients. He loves the daily interaction with patients, helping them find the right medical marijuana for their medical conditions. Josh explains that you can tell when patients come in the door struggling, and it’s a “fantastic feeling” being able to help these patients and see the “releaf” on their faces when they get the medicine they need. Over time, you tend to build a rapport with regular patients, and Josh is honored to consistently help these patients and ease their pain.

Experience in the Medical Marijuana Industry

Before Las Vegas ReLeaf, Josh spent his life working as a chef. He worked in a lot of fine dining restaurants and even helped to open a few himself. But the more health problems he began dealing with, the more challenging it became to continue working in the field he loved.
After had Josh moved to Las Vegas, he began searching for a way to treat his own medical problems as well as his father (who suffered from MS). He stumbled across medical marijuana, encouraged his father to give it a try, and quickly found a new industry he loved. As a medical marijuana patient, he could see the glaring problem many like him faced in the medical community—lack of access to the medicine they need.
Once Josh realized he couldn’t go back to the kitchen, he also realized a new dream, one where he could help others suffering from medical ailments by providing them safe and legal access to medical marijuana.
As for the future of the Las Vegas marijuana industry, Josh (like most Nevadans) is looking towards the upcoming election and vote on recreational marijuana in the state. Whichever way this vote swings will determine the near future of marijuana in Nevada. What’s most important for Josh, however, and the other budtenders at Las Vegas ReLeaf, is to shift the marijuana taxes toward recreational, so medical marijuana patients won’t have to pay so much tax to access their medication.

Passion for Food, Then Marijuana

For Josh, food was his whole world for about a decade. He literally lived and breathed food. He worked at fine cuisine restaurants across the country and even got involved in opening a few himself (some of which are still open today). He traveled from New York to Boston to Las Vegas, and many places in between, getting his Bachelor of Culinary Arts degree from New England along the way.  
Although it was difficult for Josh to give up his dream of working in the food industry, he found a new passion in the medical marijuana industry. And there are a lot of people who could use his help. These days, Josh feels that the situation he and his family experienced with medical problems and the benefits of marijuana help him to translate how marijuana can help others experiencing difficult medical problems.
Stop by Las Vegas ReLeaf to visit Josh and all the hardworking budtenders and staff dedicated to helping others heal with the medical use of marijuana. During your visit, learn more about which medical marijuana conditions are best for which strains of marijuana and pick up the latest medical marijuana specials. ,