As the world’s marijuana industry flourishes, there’s a rising demand for skilled workers with business savvy. As a result, one college plans to prepare its students by offering a class on growing pot.
At College Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick, a French-language college in New Brunswick, Canada, students will be able to take a course in marijuana cultivation and distribution beginning next year. But the school stresses it’s a serious business training course. “We’re looking at training qualified employees to meet the needs of industry, versus training students at large,” said education director Michael Doucet.
The program is intended to train students to work at local marijuana production businesses. Its launch also follows the New Brunswick government’s recent $3 million investment in a medical marijuana company that’s expected to create more than 200 new jobs in the area.
In Canada, medical marijuana is legal, and prime minister Justin Trudeau had said on the campaign trail that recreational marijuana may soon be allowed too. In fact, there is a much bigger market for the drug there than its southern neighbor. The US’s cannabis industry, despite a lack of widespread legalization, has grown to a not insignificant size, with even blue-chip companies like Microsoft getting in on the action.