This four-year degree has attracted over 300 students from 48 states. A student Grace DeNoya is no stranger to the snickers people give her when people learn that she is majoring in marijuana. She said,” I am used to being at the end of good-natured jokes from my friends about attaining a degree in marijuana.”
DeNoya is among the pioneer students at Northern Michigan University undertaking a degree in medicinal plant chemistry. However, she says the degree is just as hard as any other chemistry degree including all the heavy books and late hours studying.
North America is currently experiencing a green gold rush because of legal marijuana and hemp products. A couple of education institutions are introducing cannabis into their curriculum to prepare graduates for careers in marijuana such as researching, cultivation, analyzing and marketing this herb.
Cannabis Career Opportunities
These range from dispensary and greenhouse operator to edible product developers, quality assurance lab directors, marketing specialists, and pharmaceutical researchers. Colleges, where marijuana used for recreation remains illegal, have also launched study programs in the anticipation of legalization. such states include New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey.
The aim of doing this is to prepare students for job opportunities in other states. A chemistry professor at Northern Michigan University, Brandon Canfield said, “we are offering a fast track to get into this lucrative industry. Two years earlier, Canfield proposed a major in medicinal plant chemistry. This was after he attended a conference where cannabis representatives talked about the importance of analytical chemists for the products quality assessment.
Students will, however, not grow any marijuana which was legalized recently by Michigan voters for recreational use. Students will learn to measure and extract all the medicinal compounds from the plant. Minot State University in North Dakota is also looking to launch a similar major during the spring where students will learn skills which are applicable to medical marijuana.
