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Universities and colleges across the country are participating in clinical trials and studies, and as one researcher at the University of Guelph put it, the goal of this research is to “take the marijuana world from the backwoods to pharmaceutical grade production”. The federal government announced earlier this year that it has earmarked $1.4 million towards researching the effects of legalizing recreational marijuana. Monies will be split among 14 projects, each receiving $100,000, and involve universities and hospitals across the country, and studies range from medically-based health effects of using cannabis, to the socio and economic impact of legalization. As part of the federal budget, the government will also provide $62.5 million over the next five years for public education initiatives and another $20 million split equally to the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction and the Mental Health Commission of Canada to assist in research and help shape future policy development. That’s a pretty strong commitment financially, and all of these initiatives present opportunity, in one facet or another, to those students with an interest in working in the cannabis sector.
Knowledge, awareness, skills, smarts, opportunity, experience. All of these gained through educational pursuits in one form or another will help to legitimize the cannabis sector, as this new business ecosystem evolves from black-market to legalization. Marijuana companies need trained scientists, horticulturalists, and management staff, after all.