The University of Guelph has launched two new online courses about cannabis production, and cannabis regulations and quality assurance as part of a cannabis specialization in its horticulture certificate program.
The cannabis production course is already at full capacity, with 90 students enrolled. The university added another instructor to increase its class size, which was originally 60.
This was done to cater to the extremely high demand from students, with 150 people on the waiting list.
The cannabis regulations and quality assurance course will take place in the winter term.
The course will consist of 12 units, and will focus on the cultivation of cannabis, which involves proper lighting, botany, production practices, and post-harvest processes. The course will also spend some time focusing on topics such as “cannabis and society,” and “growing media.” Students will be graded based on quizzes, online discussions, and a final project where students will design a cannabis production system.
“We start to give people more of an understanding of the plant itself, the history behind it, and then we get into more of the nitty gritty, so how to manage the plants in terms of lighting, irrigation, and even post-harvest metrics as well,” said Melissa Moher, one of two instructors of the course.
“By the end of it, people will have a pretty good understanding, both at home and at a commercial level.”
The course was mainly created to meet a demand within the Canadian cannabis industry, according to the university’s website. According to quarterly data from Statistics Canada, total sales of dried cannabis increased by nearly five per cent from May to June of this year.
“The cannabis industry is growing rapidly, there’s a huge expansion in the number of jobs produced. The University of Guelph is filling that gap,” said Brandon Yep, a masters student and the second instructor for the course.
“A lot of people are taking the course because cannabis has affected them or their family,” he added.
The industry is no longer trying to cater to people who consume cannabis recreationally, Moher added.
“It’s not all about the THC. CBD has many medicinal benefits, and being able to grow cannabis in a way that can help people is important.”
Cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are two natural compounds found in cannabis plants. THC is the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, and is available in oils, edibles, tinctures, capsules, and more.
CBD can be extracted from hemp or from marijuana. Hemp plants are cannabis plants that contain less than 0.3 per cent THC. CBD is sold in the form of gels, gummies, oils, supplements, and extracts.
The course is open to everyone, not just students pursuing a degree at the University of Guelph, and aims to educate both people in the industry, and people who are simply interested in the content. The only requirement for enrolment in this course is a high school diploma.
“The students are not necessarily all active in the cannabis industry—for some people it’s just general interest. People who have never been involved in the culture before, but are curious and interested now,” said Meghan Clark, the manager of marketing and communications for open learning at Guelph.
Edan Tzadok, an environmental sciences student at Guelph, said the course is important and accessible.
“I guess having this course would educate more people. I guess it would give people the skills and knowledge they need to be a part of the cannabis industry,” they said.
“You could profit off of it.”
Feature image courtesy of Alex Vialette, The Ontarion.
