In early February of 2020, the Colorado Department of Higher Education announced the state’s first cannabis degree program. Colorado State University-Pueblo offers students the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science in Cannabis Biology and Chemistry. The announcement garnered national media attention, as federal healthcare officials have been calling for more research on the effects of cannabis on humans and the possible medical applications.
Colorado State’s Fort Collins campus just received a large donation that will fund the building of a cannabinoid research lab, which is set to open this spring. This new research center will work in concert with the Institute of Cannabis Research at the Pueblo campus.
The degree program at Pueblo teaches students the science required for them to work in the cannabis industry; it’s a mix of biology and chemistry, with two tracks for students to pursue (natural or analytical chemistry). Students who choose the natural route focus on biology, with supporting coursework in neurobiology and genetics, focused on cannabis and other natural plants. Students who go the analytical route will work more with chemicals and cannabinoid compounds.
It’s important to note that the students in this program will have access to grow and work with industrial hemp, and not high-THC cannabis. According to David Lehmpuhl, Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, “One of the things that motivated us in developing this program was this industry is sort of developed without oversight and regulation. I think now it’s becoming clear when you look at even the recent vaping crisis that occurred that there’s a need for having trained scientists in that space.”
Lehmpuhl expects the program to be in high demand and emphasizes, “We’re not pro-cannabis or anti-cannabis. What we’re about will be the science and training students to look at that science.”