As economic opportunities involving hemp and marijuana open up in Vermont, higher education institutions are getting in on the young industry.
The Vermont State Colleges and the University of Vermont have created certificate programs related to cannabis.
Cannabis is the family of plants that can produce marijuana or hemp, both legalized in Vermont and now the subject of vigorous economic activity.
Though sales of recreational marijuana are not legal in the state, adult possession of small amounts is legal, and lawmakers are poised to debate creating a tax-and-regulate system this session. Regulated sales of marijuana for medical use began in 2013.
As new hemp-growing operations spring up around Vermont, a crop of support services is also growing around them. Among them are law firms, business consultants, and educational programs. A federal ban on hemp cultivation ended last year with the passage of the latest farm bill, paving way for the hemp industry to take off.
Vermont Technical College is creating a CBD and greenhouse cash crop certificate program that will start in the fall. Its two instructors, Christine Motyka and Dave Hartshorn, specialize in the CBD business and in hydroponic growing, respectively.
Oil made from cannabidiol, or CBD, is believed to relieve pain, lower inflammation and decrease anxiety without causing a high.
Each session would include nine days of instruction and cost $1,350, said Molly Willard, project manager of VTC’s Institute for Applied Agriculture and Food Systems. The class can accommodate 20 people; four already have signed up, according to Maureen Hebert, associate dean of industry relations for VTC.
UVM’s program, which started in fall 2016, requires five to 10 hours of participation each week for seven weeks and is aimed at students with bachelor’s degrees who have completed college-level foundational science courses in biology and chemistry.
It costs $2,250 for a non-credit certification from the cannabis science and medicine professional program, according to the program’s website. Thirty-five people filled the program to capacity last fall, said Matt Sayre, who works in UVM’s Entrepreneurship Office. The course is offered twice a year, and usually is full, Sayre said. The session this spring runs from April 15 to May 31.
Cannabis is the fastest-growing industry in the country, according to the website of the UVM program, which is offered by UVM’s Department of Pharmacology.
“With such a dramatic rise in interest, there is an even greater demand for clinicians, dispensary managers, and edible creators to understand the indications, counter-indications, benefits, and risks of cannabis and medical marijuana,” it says. The UVM program is designed for physicians, dispensary personnel, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physician assistants, edible creators, regulators, and “budtenders,” it says.
The VTC program will focus on starting plants and growing them in the greenhouse and the field, Willard said.
“It’s for, like, maybe entrepreneurs to hone their skills, to understand propagation,” Willard said. “It could be workforce development for people who are working in dispensaries or things like that.”