When Bridget Hill-Zayat tells friends she teaches cannabis law at Stockton University, she’s often met with surprise and enthusiasm. The class is part of a newly launched program at the New Jersey public university where students can minor in cannabis studies.
“Overall, most people react with interest,” Hill-Zayat said. “It’s a popular industry.”
The first class, cannabis law, originally had 25 seats, but it was expanded to 30, and now there’s a waiting list.
“Often, colleges get criticized for not offering students real life skills,” Ekaterina Sedia, associate professor of biology, and coordinator of the newly launched program, told Marijuana.com. “This certainly is going to be a life skill regardless of whether New Jersey stops at medical or goes to the recreational side of it.”
Stockton University, located in Galloway Township in the Pine Barrens region, is the first higher education institution in the Garden State to offer a degree program in cannabis studies.
“It’s an industry that is developing, and certainly there are a lot of possibilities and new jobs,” Sedia said.