Episode 81 - Here's How Cannabis Can Save Higher Education (pun intended)
Colleges of all levels are being ravaged by COVID. Students are leaving and not coming back, some are thinking of taking a gap year, and still others are taking courses closer to home. Rob Mejia, professor of cannabis studies, says this may be the time that higher learning institutions finally embrace cannabis studies.
When I first met Rob Mejia, around January BC (Before COVID), his role as a professor of pot studies at Stockton University made him a rare bird. Today, however, state and community colleges and continuing education programs across the country have a much more urgent interest in attracting and retaining students. Cannabis studies are one way to increase and steady enrollment, and Rob is seen as prescient.
In the post-COVID economy, where jobs are more scarce, students will be gravitating toward industries that are expanding rather than contracting. This puts cannabis in an excellent position. To date, the cannabis industry has added 240,000 jobs, more if you include ancillary/support professions like branding, financial services, photography, insurance, lawyers and more lawyers. That number will expand as more states legalize adult use – citizens of New Jersey, Arizona and Pennsylvania, Florida and a half dozen more will vote on it in November. Unlike retail or fashion, cannabis is on a growth curve -- in 2019 it expanded 15-20% depending on the state. 2020 may not see the same steady spike but it will still be one of the country’s few boom industries, despite the regulatory, banking and legal hurdles it must contend with.
A confession and (shameless self-promotion): Rob’s education company, Our Community Harvest, and mine, Medical Cannabis Mentor, have joined forces to bring effective and cost effective online cannabis education to college students. We’re creating courses on budtending, cultivation, cooking, science and medical cannabis -- and we're looking to speak to leaders in higher education.
Special Bonus 1: At the end of Rob’s spring semester he asked me to critique the senior presentations of one class. I agreed and we selected 7 to share with you here: https://youtu.be/t2cZwUSwGmI. There are some surprising topics and investigations within, all of which bode well for the next generation of industry leaders.
Special Bonus 2: If you’re like most people I know, you’re having trouble sleeping and it's getting worse the longer COVID goes on. For detailed info on how to wisely use cannabis to catch some zzzzs, check out this great blog, “Help! I Need a Good Night’s Sleep!”
Special Bonus 3: Dr. Sunil Aggarwal, a frequent and distinguished guest on this podcast, is the subject of this article, How Cannabis Coevolved with Humanity, and Could Save It. While I’m dubious of any one thing being able to save humanity from its own destruction, cannabis remains the only crop that supplies us with three essential necessities, food, fiber, and drugs, which makes it unique and even more special than you thought.
Special Bonus 4: Is Trump Worse Than Hitler? Even if you find that title hyperbolic, or think the question is without merit, I urge you to listen to this lucid interview with Noam Chomsky hosted by my friend, Linda Solomon Wood, founder and editor-in-chief of Canada's National Observer.
Special Bonus 5: Have a look at this interesting and underreported view of how Africa has contained COVID and in particular, the COVID killing possibilities of African wormwood. A plant!
Special Bonus 7: The Hidden History of CBD. A fine piece illustrating how stoners and stories were key to unlocking the mysteries of that other molecule. We'll be exploring this more in upcoming episodes.
That's enough!