Think you are a Master of Cannabis? Well now you can be, even in Missouri. Northwest Missouri State University and Saint Louis University are both offering certificates in the medical cannabis field. Programs like this are designed to provide career paths that match the booming medical marijuana market in growing statewide. Areas of study include: healthcare and medicine, law and policy, business of cannabis, and cannabis agriculture and horticulture.
This could have a massive impact on exactly who can join the industry and who can profit off of it. This is where education comes in. As legislation changes and the market expands, universities are working to stay ahead of the curve by offering cannabis-related studies.
According to Zip Recruiter, a majority of jobs in the marijuana industry in Missouri are boasting salaries in the 95th percentile for the state with top earners making upwards of $170,000 a year. Though average pay range in the industry varies greatly (as much as $73,480), which suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay based on skill level, location and years of experience.
Missouri still has room to grow, and big footsteps to fill.
Oaksterdam University in Oakland, California considers itself the first cannabis college. The school, which opened in 2007, has graduated 50,000 students through classes like “The Business of Cannabis” and “Commercial Extraction and Manufacturing.”
But outside of online schools, some of the country’s most elite universities have joined the line up. Northern Michigan University offers a four-year undergraduate major degree in Medicinal Plant Chemistry, UC Davis was teaching an undergrad class titled, “Physiology of Cannabis,” and the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver had one on the “Business of Marijuana.”
“Marijuana Law and Policy” was offered on Vanderbilt’s campus, the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont offered an online course on “Cannabis Science and Medicine,” Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law provided a “Marijuana Law, Policy and Reform” seminar, and the University of Washington has a class on “Medicinal Cannabis and Chronic Pain.”
The list goes on, with more recent additions from Clark University, University of Maryland, and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. One thing is for certain, marijuana education is only just beginning.