St. Cloud State offering 6-month certificate program for cannabis

This is a headline I didn't think I'd be writing, and yes, it does take "higher education" to the next level. Weed jokes aside, the legalization of marijuana in Minnesota will create hundreds, perhaps thousands of new businesses, growing operations, dispensaries, and opportunities to make a buck - not to mention tens, perhaps hundreds of millions in annual tax revenue for the state of Minnesota.

How can you profit from the burgeoning weed market in Minnesota, while keeping your current job? State Cloud State University just announced a new certificate program, the first school in the state to do so, and the details are worth checking out.

According to St. Cloud State Today: SCSU’s Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) division is partnering with California-based cannabis education company Green Flower to deliver the content. These non-credit certificate programs are available to anyone over the age of 18.

The four topics include: Cannabis Agriculture and Horticulture, Cannabis Compliance and Risk Management, Business of Cannabis and Cannabis Healthcare and Medicine. Each certificate program takes about six months to complete, and the fully-online learning model allows students to work at their own pace throughout each week.

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St. Cloud Live adds: The cost of each program is $2,950, with payment plans available. Financial aid is not available for the courses, but a $500 discount is available for the first cohort in September with discount code SCSUFIRST. The first start date is September 11, the next start date is November 6.

How big could this get? In fiscal year 2022-2023, Colorado collected $282.3 million in cannabis tax revenue, that's more than cigarette tax revenue, and almost 6 times more than taxes on alcohol products brought into state coffers.

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Photo by CRYSTALWEED cannabis on Unsplash

My take: Minnesota already has some of the finest breweries in the nation. Why not some of the best cannabis dispensaries too? It's the Wild Wild West out there - if you're thinking of getting on this moving train you better go fast, and an online cannabis certificate at SCSU might just be a good start.