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US (MI): Marijuana degree combines science and business

Alex Roth has gotten into the habit of pulling out his cell phone and showing skeptical friends a screen shot of the classes he’ll have to take to get his bachelor of science degree from Northern Michigan University.

“When they hear what my major is, there are a lot of people who say, 'Wow, cool dude. You’re going to get a degree growing marijuana,’” said the 19-year-old sophomore at Northern Michigan in Marquette. “But it’s not an easy degree at all.”

His four-year medicinal plant chemistry degree — geared toward the burgeoning marijuana business that is about to explode in Michigan next year — includes classes such as organic chemistry, biochemistry, soils, biology, gas and liquid chromatography, biostatistics, genetics, accounting, financial management and perspectives on society.

Other colleges and universities — such as Harvard, University of Denver, Vanderbilt University and Ohio State University — that offer a variety of classes on marijuana policy and law.

And there are programs that offer marijuana certificates in a variety of disciplines at places such as Oaksterdam University, Cannabis College, and Humboldt Cannabis College, all in California; and THC University, the Grow School and Clover Leaf University in Denver.

But the NMU program is unique, mixing chemistry, biology, botany, horticulture, marketing and finance in a four-year program that began this semester. The first class has a dozen students, but Dr. Mark Paulsen, director of the university’s chemistry department, expects that number to grow quickly.

Read more at Detroit Free Press (Kathleen Gray)
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