Hannah Youmans, a budtender who has been in the marijuana industry for about two and a half years, poses for a portrait inside TJ’s on Willamette, the dispensary she works at, on Feb. 12, 2024. Originally from New York, Youmans came to Oregon with her younger sister, whom she had custody of, in search of a better situation. “I did not have the best childhood, and I wanted her to have a better childhood,” she said. “She was 14 when we moved here, and that was the end of 2020. Right in the middle of Covid.”

Jose Gonzalez, a Eugene budtender who has been in the marijuana industry for around four years, poses for a portrait inside of Cookies, the dispensary he works at, on Feb. 13, 2024. With marijuana being prevalent in popular culture, music, and with his own friends and family, Gonzalez said it was like he was born into the marijuana industry. “It was almost like a destined job to be in the marijuana scene,” he said. “I feel like I already knew a lot about marijuana before I came into marijuana, so I wanted to work somewhere where there was more to be learned — I can always be taught something new.”

Levi Davis, a Eugene budtender who has been in the marijuana industry for around seven months, poses for a portrait inside TJ’s on Willamette, the dispensary he works at, on Feb. 13, 2024. Davis, a long-time smoker, joined the marijuana industry for the opportunity to mix customer service, sales, and, of course, marijuana and has since seen a side to it that he hadn’t noticed before. “It was totally different than I imagined, but in a very cool way. I always liked science and such going to school, and there's a lot of that when it comes down to this,” he said. “I kind of just thought I was going to go in and sell weed, but no, it’s been rad.” Davis has had opportunities to learn about different strains, growing practices, and more. He even tried his hand at growing his own plants but was unable to keep up with the amount of work that goes into it. “Growing is so cool, it’s such an art,” he said. “That’s something I didn’t appreciate before, for sure.”

Terrence Quarles, a Eugene budtender who has been in the marijuana industry for around two years, poses for a portrait inside Peach marijuana on Feb. 13, 2024; he is now the manager at Phresh Start marijuana. Originally from Los Angeles, Quarles said the industry there was difficult to break into, so after living in Hawaii — where there is no recreational marijuana industry — he moved to Oregon, primarily to get involved in marijuana. “It’s cliche, but I found my calling,” he said. After injuries from high school football and experiences with insomnia, depression, and anxiety from a young age, Quarles turned to marijuana as a solution. “Once that started, I just fell in love with marijuana and just started smoking it more and more and learning about it,” he said. “Honestly, like I said, I can sleep. That’s a huge lifestyle change for me — It made my whole world just much different. It made managing my mental health easier. It still does.”

Ashe Newton, a Eugene budtender who has been in the marijuana industry since 2019 poses for a portrait inside of Verde, the dispensary he works at, on Feb. 13, 2024. Newton, who also runs Hysterical Light Eugene, an online-only radio station meant to “celebrate the art and music and culture of Eugene,” was introduced to parts of the marijuana industry while he was in school through his dad, who bought a farm in Salem. Shortly after graduating, he became a budtender. “I was so overwhelmed with everything in school that I started smoking my senior year, and it really helped, and it really got me through,” he said. “I literally got my degree, and a month later, I got a job at a dispensary.”