The Future of Cannabis Is Here: Educating the Industry

The history of cannabis education is not a pretty picture. Fear-mongering by our own government demonized a plant so ingrained in our society that our founding documents were drafted on hemp paper. For decades cannabis was nearly erased from the history books. Thanks to the internet and the sharing of knowledge, the truth is resurfacing, and people can make their own interpretations. But the internet only takes the industry so far. How do we further legitimize it?

The experience gap

"Do you know anyone who can run my extraction facility?" As an extraction consultant, this is the number one question I am asked. The follow-up is always, "are they qualified?" There is a massive gap between what employers want and what is actually available in the cannabis industry, the fastest-growing market in the United States.

I earned my degree in the school of hard knocks, as did many of us in the industry. I started with a glass tube and a can of butane, but that is not the way forward. The future is education through proper, accredited channels. A handful of schools have skirted the issue with degrees in medicinal plant chemistry, or courses in cannabis law and journalism, but these do not address the real needs employers have.

The first accredited cannabis degree

Lake Superior State University (LSSU) in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, launched the first cannabis-focused associate's and bachelor's degrees at an accredited institution. Because the programs sit within an accredited university, students are eligible for financial aid and transfer credits, unlike the unaccredited cannabis schools that came before. LSSU implemented three disciplines: Cannabis Chemistry, Cannabis Sciences, and Cannabis Business.

They teamed up with ExtractionTek Solutions (ETS) to build the world's first university cannabis extraction lab. Students receive hands-on, real-world experience in a legitimate extraction lab. One of the biggest barriers to entry in this industry is experience, which raises the familiar problem: how do you get experience if you cannot get access to the equipment? Here, students get both access and certified training from proven industry professionals.

Learning it right the first time

The scariest person in a lab is someone who was taught incorrectly. A line I hear far too often is "I've been doing this for 10 years." That is valuable only if it was 10 years of doing it correctly; 10 years of incorrect training is a long road to come back from. This lab features equipment from top industry professionals, who provide Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) trainings so students graduate with that certification on their resume.

The next line of cannabis professionals will have degrees. Those of us who put in the hard work to get the industry to this point will not be forgotten. Like anything, the future involves change, and that change is what makes us grow.