A university in Philadelphia has launched a Masters of Business Administration course specifically designed for students who want to join the cannabis industry.
The University of the Sciences has begun efforts to enrol bright young things and the course will begin in September. It will provide education surrounding the business of cannabis and hemp, and running dispensaries.
Last week Max Stern Yezreel Valley College in Galilee announced that it was launching a cannabis degree for Israelis that want to get into its burgeoning medical marijuana trade. The course will teach them cultivation, pharmacology and legal and economic issues surrounding the sector.
But USciences believes it is the first college in America to offer a specific cannabis degree, and its MBA will focus a lot more on the business of marijuana than on cultivation. However, it will provide information on healthcare and the pharmaceutical side of the business too.
“As the industry grows, and the potential for medical cannabis to converge with the pharmaceutical industry, a specialization in pharmaceutical and healthcare business will be an asset to those in the cannabis industry,” said Andrew Peterson, executive director of the Substance Use Disorders Institute at the university.
The course is an option within the college’s MBA in pharmaceutical and healthcare business, a hybrid curriculum that sees students taking courses online, with occasional visits to campus. It hopes this will allow distance learning and encourage people already in employment to get involved.
Students who take the plunge can look forward to learning about the finance and regulation of the cannabis industry, marketing and sales of marijuana, ethical issues within the pharmaceutical trade, leadership and development, health economics, and more.
USciences expects existing students to join the program, while also attracting newcomers to the campus. It believes it will have no problem in achieving a target of 15-20 students per class.
The U.S. cannabis industry has already created 211,000 jobs across the country, having added 64,000 in 2018 alone. That includes accountants, lab workers, marketers, salespeople, and tax experts.
There are not many college courses specific to marijuana right now, but you would expect more universities to follow in USciences’ footsteps considering the growth of the industry.
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