As the new laws on legalizing marijuana continues to push us towards a very smoke-friendly society in the near future, many other aspects of everyday life will also start to ride the cannabis coattail.
If you ever wanted to test your knowledge in the area on an academic level, one historic NYC college will be offering the first-ever cannabis minor degree program for a CUNY campus.
Official statements from MEC confirm that students will be able to enroll in “Introduction to the World of Cannabis” as a prerequisite course that will be followed by other cannabis courses in this degree program. Actually, 13 newly-developed courses were put in place to earn a cannabis degree minor in one of four different tracks, with students able to pick up to four courses.
Here’s what Dr. Patricia Ramsey, president of Medgar Evers College, publicly stated in regards to her choice to approve education for the next cannabis leaders in the areas of testing, cultivation, business, and health:
“As a botanist, I’m particularly pleased to see that the institution that I’ve been selected to lead is on the cutting edge of providing educational opportunities to learn about the many beneficial uses of plants such as cannabis and to provide the training necessary for our students to be able to compete for burgeoning opportunities in this new industry.
Education is a key step in raising awareness of the non-recreational benefits of plants such as cannabis. Oftentimes, communities of color are the last to benefit from emerging economic opportunities. The science faculty and the business faculty collaborated in developing the minor in cannabis education; thus, exposing the students to the science, health, technical and business aspects of this new industry.”
The promising academic program will be lead by the MEC Cannabis Education Taskforce, consisting of faculty leads Dr. Alicia Reid and Dr. Micah Crump and two alumni partners, Vikiana Clement and Joel Strothers, completing the four-person department.
With the business side being a focal point of the degree for an industry that’s proven to be lucrative, we think this is definitely a smart early move for the university. Let us know if you agree or think otherwise.