Michigan University Adds Cannabis To The Curriculum

(AP) "Majoring in marijuana" may sound like a college dropout track, but at a growing number of universities, cannabis is being added to the curriculum to prepare graduates for a blossoming career field.

Northern Michigan University launched a four-year degree in medical plant chemistry in 2017. Chemistry professor Brandon Canfield proposed it after hearing marijuana industry representatives talk of an urgent need for analytical chemists in the field.

The Michigan program now has nearly 300 students from 48 states. Canfield says graduates will be qualified for chemistry lab jobs starting at $70,000. A similar medicinal plant chemistry program has been launched recently at Minot State University in North Dakota.

In upstate New York, the state college in Morrisville is launching a cannabis studies minor in the horticulture department.

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