Are you hoping to get involved in the marijuana business? There's a class for that.
A new course at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) is teaching prospective entrepreneurs all they need to know to be successful in the rapidly-emerging weed market. Retired Col. Scott Abbott and Professor at SWIC Shawn Rakers told KMOX about how the class got started.
Abbott said the idea came about when he and his partner -- a lobbyist for SWIC -- were talking about how to get people formally educated on entering the industry.
"So I was invited to that meeting to help them write an application so that they would be approved to actually grow cannabis on campus," Abbott said. "Through the course of those meetings, they asked if I'd be interested in delivering some instruction on the topic. 'Oh my gosh, sure. Yeah, I'd be glad to do that.' So we drafted cannabis 101."
Cannabis 101, he explained, covers the legal aspects of the substance, and Cannabis 102 covers recreational vs. medicinal marijuana. And Cannabis 130 takes the students through a day in the life of someone in the business.
"By time they leave there, they don't have in depth knowledge into growing properties, but they they know a great deal about the industry, and about working in the industry rules and regulations associated with it," he said.
Shawn Rakers, a professor of horitculture at SWIC, got involved after being in the cannabis industry for a few years and seeking approval to grow marijuana on campus.
"I got to work one on one with Colonel Abbott for a while. And then when this opportunity came up, he reached out to me and I said, 'Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'm definitely going to be on board with this,'" Rakers said.
The program is in its second year and started with just a few students, but now each class has more than 20 students, Rakers said.
"I'm hearing from the parents of my students how well they're actually liking it and recommending that their kids actually get into it," he said. "I also have students in there that are from age range of 40, all the way to 70. So it's really across a broad spectrum, but everybody in there is very attentive. They love what we're teaching."
If you're interested in registering for the course, you can find more information on the SWIC website.
Hear more about the cannabis courses at SWIC:
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