Toronto company offers cash to 'cannabis connoisseurs' to smoke

Getting paid to smoke pot is no longer a toker's daydream.

A cannabis firm is looking to hire five pot aficionados from across the country to sample the company's wares and get paid to do it.

Toronto-based company AHLOT is offering up to $1,000 a month to five "cannabis connoisseurs" to sample various strains of marijuana.

With legalization scheduled for Oct. 17, the bud brain trust will form the company's "cannabis curation committee," reporting back on characteristics and quality.

The committee will help determine what pot products go into its sample pack, which will comprise several strains from various licensed producers, says the company. It's starting recruitment this week.

The company said the group selected to "dance with the devil's lettuce" will work on weed for $50 per hour up to 16 hours per month, on top of a $200 expense account.

The marijuana enthusiasts — all 19 or older — will also be asked to write social media posts, appear in video segments and show up at company events, though participation is optional.

Pot jobs could skyrocket 

According to a forecast from consultancy Deloitte, the pot sector could add as many as 150,000 jobs over the next few years.

Canadian cannabis shares have skyrocketed in the run-up to legalization as the pot economy booms.

Stock prices for Aurora Cannabis Inc. shot up this week after a BNN Bloomberg report on talks with the Coca-Cola Company. Aurora later played down the development.

Share prices for the licensed producer Tilray Inc. rose nearly 147 per cent to $297.17 in a day and a half before coming down to earth to $214.06 when markets closed Wednesday.

The Nanaimo, B.C.-based company received the green light Tuesday from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agency to export a medical cannabis product south of the border for use in a clinical trial.

The company's shares have jumped more than 400 per cent over the past month.