Marijuana Matters: SUNY Farmingdale offers certificate for recreational cannabis business opportunities

With recreational marijuana becoming legal in New York, colleges are now offering cannabis courses to help prepare students for the industry.
Students at SUNY Farmingdale will now have the opportunity to earn a Cannabis Production and Management certificate.
Cannabis courses and degrees for students are expected to increase and there is already interest at SUNY Farmingdale.
Jonathan Leher, of the Urban Horticulture and Design program at SUNY Farmingdale, says students who have contacted with interest are traditional students right out of high school to students who are looking for a career change.
Spencer Bushey wants to be an entrepreneur and to get into the industry as soon as he can.
"Maybe if I could start up a legal limited state-run grow operation or start up a greenhouse range and propagate for other people who are growing," Bushey says.
SUNY Farmingdale's goal is to stay on top of emerging trends and offer programs that help students get jobs when they graduate.
"If we can provide students with the credentials so they can enter this field, stay here and contribute to our schools, the economy," Leher says. "Then if we can succeed in doing that then Farmingdale, this certificate, my colleagues, we're all doing our job."
SUNY Farmingdale expects their cannabis curriculum to grow along with the industry.