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Business Professor David Cram honestly thought a post-secondary course on the emerging cannabis industry would be hard to get approved and could possibly only interest a niche group of students.
“I was expecting some pushback, but the Dean's response was that it’s our job to prepare students for today’s business world, not to teach the history of business,” said David Cram, Business Professor at Okanagan College.
Interest among students was 'high' and the course had the strongest attendance class after class that Prof. Cram has ever seen.
Inside the classroom, students completed projects on topics associated with marketing products or services within the cannabis industry, for example one student created a business plan for a butler service that caters to people experiencing the effects of cannabis.
“There were some very creative projects integrating cannabis with different aspects of the business world,” said Cram. “Marijuana tourism, construction requirements for licensed growing, cannabis in professional sports were all popular studies.”
Industry professionals from the Okanagan, such as DOJA CEO Trent Kitsch and Lexaria CEO Chris Bunka were brought in as guest speakers for the students who were all eyes and ears.
“We teach a course in the curriculum that studies the interaction of government in business and the cannabis industry is a fabulous case study for that because of the illegal regulatory frameworks being created before our eyes,” explained Cram.
“Post-secondary institutions really haven't given cannabis enough attention from a research or a business perspective so there’s a research void in the space. This is an excellent opportunity for students to understand and be part of what will surely be a large industry in the future.”
A goal of the course was to raise awareness that the cannabis industry, as with many other industries, offers business opportunities and employment for people of all different skill sets.
“The course teaches that to be involved in an industry you are going to have to develop specific knowledge and capability to be successful in that industry,” explained Prof. Cram.
“For business students, they’re not going to be chemists but even to work on the business side of cannabis you have to understand the biotechnology and medicinal applications of the plant.”
Local company Vitalis, which makes CO2 extraction systems used to extract CBD among other ingredients from cannabis, where a case study for the class of local entrepreneurs making a successful business outside of actually growing or selling cannabis.
Professor Cram confirms that the course will be returning this September, however, it will no longer be called the "Emerging Cannabis Industry".
"The name of the course this Fall will be the Cannabis Industry because it's not emerging as much it is going to be a full industry in the Okanagan by then."
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