Students at Stockton University will soon be able to minor in marijuana.

The south Jersey school rolls out its new “Cannabis Studies” minor program next week. While several schools around the state offer courses in cannabis as part of their science programs, Stockton may be the first higher education institution in the Garden State to launch a program designed to prepare students for the rapidly expanding weed industry in New Jersey — and across the nation.

"It’s an industry that is developing and certainly there are a lot of possibilities and new jobs,” said
Kathy Sedia, who is an associate professor of biology at Stockton and coordinator of the program. Stockton is nestled in the Pine Barrens just a short drive from the Jersey Shore. 

“Oftentimes, colleges get criticized for not offering students real-life skills and that certainly is going to be a life skill regardless of whether New Jersey stops at medical or goes to the recreational side of it,” Sedia said.

The minor involves five classes, anchored by the History of Cannabis and Cannabis Law. Students will also take electives geared towards their particular interest in the marijuana industry, which Sedia says sits at the intersection of many fields, like business, law, and criminal justice.

“There are so many issues inherent in this industry that it would be kind of a disservice to do it purely as a medicinal or purely legal program,” she said. For instance, there is the social justice aspect of the industry.

“You cannot really talk about medicinal marijuana without discussing the war on drugs and the devastating effects it had on the African-American communities,” Sedia said.

Additionally, business students and criminal justice majors should understand legal obstacles faced by the burgeoning new marijuana industry.

“There is still a federal prohibition,” she said. 

Students will not be handling cannabis as part of the course; except for the medicinal marijuana program, cannabis is still illegal in New Jersey.

The program will also include an internship that could be at a law office, doctor’s office or a place where plants are grown.

Sedia said 25 students are signed up for the program, and classes start September 5th.

Legislators in Trenton are currently crafting a bill to legalize weed, at the urging of Governor Phil Murphy.  Across the border, Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia is also launching a certificate program this fall in three areas: cannabinoid pharmacology, cannabis medicine and cannabinoid chemistry and toxicology.

“Physicians are recommending (medicinal cannabis) and they are permitted by their states to be a legal recommender for cannabis therapies, but they don’t have a lot of knowledge,” said Judy Spahr at the Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp at Jefferson.

She said the program is trying to provide research for evidence-based research for clinicians, especially with more doctors prescribing the drug to patients for conditions like anxiety, pain and epilepsy.

“What they learned back in the day is cannabis is a drug for abuse,” she said.  “This is changing and we’re trying to be part of that change by offering education that aims to talk about both the positive and negative impacts of the cannabinoids.”