Onondaga Community College launches ‘affordable’ online cannabis education program

Onondaga Community College announced today that it is launching a new educational program to help students find what it calls an “affordable path” into what is expected to be New York State’s booming cannabis industry.

CannabisHub OCC will offer courses leading to certifications in the cultivation, processing and sale of cannabis. Classes will take place entirely online, allowing students to work at their own pace. Registration for this semester is currently underway. The program is offered in partnership with the Cleveland School of Cannabis in Ohio.

OCC joins a growing list of NYC colleges and universities offering cannabis-related programs. Some of these started years ago with programs related to hemp, a form of cannabis that can be made into products such as CBD extracts and edibles.

Programs have expanded since New York City legalized the use of recreational marijuana (which contains the “high” compound THC) in April 2021. New York also has a medical marijuana program.

A 2021 report by economic policy and labor market researchers predicts that the cannabis industry in New York City could employ about 51,000 people by 2027, earning $2.2 billion a year.

New York’s exit from the industry began in mid-late 2022, with a limited number of manufacturers and processors receiving licenses. The first legal retail stores, called dispensaries, only opened last month.

As the industry continues to evolve, OCC doesn’t yet have an accurate idea of ​​how many students can enroll in cannabis programs, said Warren Hilton, who took over as OCC president last year.

“The industry in New York is not yet fully mature, so it’s still too early to make predictions, but I suspect there will be early adopters,” Hilton said. “Once things move forward, I think then we’ll see him gradually grow.”

As with other college programs, the OCC curriculum will cover all aspects of cannabis. Certificate Programs:

· The science of growing cannabis. Students study topics such as horticulture, cannabis cultivation, pest control, and the “science of glandular trichomes” or plant chemistry. Price: $1,000 + $62.50 registration fee.

· Cannabis dispensary training. The focus is on dispensary operations, CBD, cannabis history, advocacy, and terpenes and varieties. Price: $675 + $42.73 registration fee.

· Cannabis extracts. Students will learn about food, mechanical extraction, ethanol and hydrocarbon extraction, CO2 extraction, and post-processing. Price: $950 + $59.46 registration fee.

According to Hilton, OCC is committed to making the program as accessible as possible, in line with the overall mission of community colleges. Courses range from $675 for dispensary/sales training, up to $950 for processing/extraction and $1,000 for cultivation plus registration fees.

“At the community college level, we are the most affordable higher education,” Hilton said. We definitely want this program to be aligned with our mission and the communities we serve.”

The Cleveland School of Cannabis has been offering programs since 2017 and has expanded and adapted its curriculum and classes as more states legalized recreational marijuana, said school president Tyrone Russell. On Monday, he was on the OCC campus to help Hilton announce the program.

The school’s experience so far shows that the cultivation sequence has been the most popular, Russell said, but he expects growth, especially in mining/processing.

“Growing is where the excitement was, with the history of the plant,” he said. “This is probably the most applicable. But mining was underdeveloped and underused. I think the more people learn and understand what is at stake, the more people will enter this program. This is truly the future.”

More about cannabis training in Central New York:

Syracuse University Cannabis Curriculum Offers Students Entry into the Industry

Digging in the SUNY Morrisville juvenile cannabis industry

Cornell cannabis and hemp program already ‘normalised’ at university

MORE NEW YORK MARIJUANA/CANABIS NEWS

Don Kazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and Poststandard. Reach him in [email protected]or follow him to NYup.comon Twitter or facebook.

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