Marijuana Business: Canadian University To Start Cannabis Management Course

A Canadian university is offering a program that will train people in the business of growing and selling marijuana. The Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia province will teach students how to manage weed business under new pot regulations set by the Canadian government.

The country has 25 federally licensed marijuana-growing facilities, of which 13 are in Ontario and six in British Columbia. Canada only allows medicinal use of marijuana and regulations differ by region.

“Medical marijuana is in the news every day, and it’s an industry that is just starting to grow, and is growing very rapidly,” Jim Pelton, executive director of continuing and professional studies at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, said, according to National Post, a local daily.

Tegan Adams, a business development manager with a marijuana testing company in Toronto, said there is a “need for middle management” and a formal training in cannabis industry, CTV News Vancouver, a local network, reported.

“There was a pretty big gap in knowledge between the people who were growing marijuana and the people who were investing in it,” Adams, who will be an instructor for the course, reportedly said. She added that people have plenty of options to grow cannabis legally.

The 14-week online course, which is slated to begin Oct. 26, will cover topics such as plant production, laws regarding weed, marketing and sales, medical conditions and drug development processes. The course is open to students of all nationalities.

U.S. institutions such as the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Vanderbilt University School of Law and Harvard University Law already offer similar courses.