As the growing information about CBD continues to rise, it shouldn’t be of much surprise that teaching CBD at universities is growing in popularity. While there is a current shortage of highly knowledgeable people in these areas; interest and the accessibility of CBD continues to rise. The want and need for this type of knowledge, makes education on these topics more important than ever.
Since educational opportunities around hemp and CBD are new, there is not a regulated standard for certificates to be issues for these courses. In other words, one certification program might take four hours and another might take four months to complete. While certificates or classwork related to CBD are not a prerequisite for a job in this industry, this will likely change in the near future as more universities offer these types of programs.
Doane University in Nebraska is one of the higher education institutes getting on board. Their organic chemistry professor, Andrea Holmes, teaches a program there called “Cannabis Science and Industries: Seeds to Needs.” The professional certificate program covers processing, agriculture, wellness and manufacturing needs, among other topics. “There is such a need for a qualified workforce, but many just don’t have the right credentials,” said Holmes. She goes on to add that, “There needs to be a practical training program for direct application.”
In addition to Doane University, Eastern Oklahoma State College features a CBD production course that teaches students how to process and grow organic cannabidiol. The American College of Apothecaries, located in Tennessee, also includes a “Get To Know CBD Oil” program that educates pharmacists and technicians on the topic. Many of the community colleges in these areas, that are providing these courses, are in cities with a CBD processing facility that can serve as springboards to local jobs. This allows students to get hands on work experience, in the ever-growing field of CBD.
In addition to some smaller colleges around the country introducing CBD courses; Oregon State University is now home to the largest hemp research center in the United States. They announced the launch of their new facility back in June.
Another university, the University of California – San Diego was granted $4.7 million back in 2018 for cannabis research. The multi-million-dollar gift came from the Ray and Tye Noorda Foundation, in partnership with the Wholistic Research and Education Foundation. The funds went to UCSD’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR).
In particular, the money will fund research into how cannabis can be used to treat autism The university said that researchers plan to use the funds to conduct broad multidisciplinary research. This will include “clinical, basic science, advanced mathematics and genetic techniques” aimed at better understanding the effects of medical cannabis on autism.
Autism is a condition that affects somewhere around 1 in ~59 children in the United States. Currently there are not very many treatment options available for autism, and many researchers are hopeful that cannabis could provide new forms of treatment. In particular, many think that CBD could help, and researchers at UCSD plan to use their new funds to study this further.
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