(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — As the cannabis industry grows in Illinois, one of the City Colleges of Chicago is offering a unique program to help more people become a part of it.
Dr. Kimberly Hollingsworth is president of Olive-Harvey College on the South Side, which is now offering a degree in applied cannabis studies.
She says graduates of the program will have the skills they need for a variety of jobs, including dispensary operators, cannabis extraction technicians and master growers.
There's also a special focus on communities of color, which Hollingsworth says have traditionally been under-represented in the cannabis and marijuana industries.
"The impact it's making on the African-American and Latinx community is really significant,” she said. “Our curriculum is really focused on equity and equality, and we have course work around that and how important that is to this industry.”
Hollingsworth says Olive-Harvey is the first community college in Illinois to offer a degree in applied cannabis studies.
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