Minor in cannabis production? This Illinois university is offering one

Agricultural workers to receive cannabis production education

By: WeedCub Team, Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at 2:58 PM PT

Western Illinois University is pushing the cannabis industry forward by offering a cannabis production minor starting in the fall of this year.

Due to the legalization of recreational marijuana in Illinois this year, the faculty decided that offering the minor would be beneficial to students. The minor will help develop future employees that can quickly enter into the booming cannabis industry.

The minor will consist of 18-19 credit hours and draws from current expertise at Western Illinois University's agricultural and biological sciences departments. Most of the classes are already taught and one course, Cannabis Biology and Production will be created just for the minor. For students, this is a great minor to add onto the university's already robust agricultural program.

This is an exciting development and future trend as universities start to leverage their current expertise and combine it with new cannabis courses to develop the future of the budding cannabis industry.

The supply chain in legal cannabis States has usually lagged behind consumer demand, so equipping more workers with training should help the industry flourish.  

Universities receive federal funding and are becoming ancillary service providers to the cannabis industry.  Perhaps banking is next on the radar?

Besides the exploding marijiuana culture to provide for, a standalone CBD and hemp economy has sprung up due to the Farm Bill.  Hemp and cannabis are the same plant so naturally these students will have a diverse job market to choose from down the road.