Just a little over two months after California legalized the adult recreational of marijuana, City College of San Francisco announced plans to add a cannabis curriculum.
The notoriously progressive city’s two-year community college will take the rest of this year designing the educational program that will officially offered to students in the 2018 spring semester.
“Obviously, with the potential growth of this industry being substantial, particularly in California, we want to offer access to this growing industry,” said Jeff Hamilton, a spokesperson for the college.
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In November, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 64, legalizing cannabis recreationally. The state has had a medical marijuana program in place since 1996 when it passed the Compassionate Use Act.
CCSF is developing the program in conjunction with Oaksterdam University—a ground-breaking marijuana trade school located across the bay in Oakland —and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union.
Oaksterdam is a revolutionary institution that has educated nearly 30,000 students in its nine-year history. UFCW was an early adopter of representing labor rights in the marijuana markets.
In 2016, the college struck a deal to partner with UFCW to create a de facto apprenticeship program in the school’s Pharmacology Technology department.
Oaksterdam and the labor union are not totally on the same page as to how the program will work, who will be eligible and what will be taught.
Dale Sky Jones, Oaksterdam University’s executive chancellor, told the San Francisco Examiner that “there are things that need to be sussed out, including who the training is for.” Jones wants to ensure that the classes are not restricted to members of the labor union. “I just want to make sure the training is available for as much people as possible,” Jones said.
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According to Hamilton, the college spokesperson, the course, as currently designed, is not an open-enrollment option. Instead, students would be sponsored as apprentices by the UFCW.
“The UFCW represents thousands of medical cannabis workers in six states and the District of Columbia,” according to the union’s website. The union currently represents 1.3 million members nationally, with most of its workers in the grocery, pharmacy and retail business.
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