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Stockton University in South Jersey has become a center of cannabis industry incubation with its Hemp and Cannabis Studies program.
They are the first New Jersey college to have a cannabis undergraduate degree, the Bachelor of Science in Hemp and Cannabis Business Management.
The degree allows students to dive into the business aspect of legally growing and selling cannabis in New Jersey.
While cannabis remains federally illegal, the legal New Jersey cannabis market has continued to grow drastically.
Professor Robert Mejia explained teaching Cannabis courses at Stockton has been a good challenge. He has been trying to figure out the kind of curriculum students need that addresses industry needs. There was also a challenge while teaching these courses to make sure that there was enough accurate and new information while also appealing to student interests.
Mejia said that his first introduction to cannabis was when his sister was diagnosed with uterine cancer. He said that among the many medications his sister was prescribed, medical cannabis was not one of them.
Mejia had a few publications, such as The Essential Cannabis Book and The Essential Cannabis Journal.
He said that when his son was looking to attend Stockton University, he came with and met with Professor Thomas Olah. They spent two hours speaking about his course, Medical Cannabis.
Professor Steven Schain teaches Cannabis Law at Stockton University. He goes over the logistics of the hemp and cannabis industry, the legal side of things, and how the government treats hemp and cannabis businesses.
“Stockton was a beacon of innovation and far-reaching in the educational and professional opportunities it provided to its students,” SS declared.
He was a practicing lawyer with a firm dealing with Cannabis, Hemp, and Psychedelics.
Schain has practiced law in the Cannabis, Hemp, and Psychedelics space for the past nine years.
“Specifically, … represent entities, governments and individuals in litigation, regulation and compliance, license applications, entity formation, and drafting legislation,” he explained.
Professor Valentia Fiero, an Alumni, teaches Cannabis Cultivation at Stockton University. Her course focuses on the process of cultivating, growing, and farming hemp and cannabis, utilizing the Hemp Farm on the Stockton University campus to give students lots of hands-on experience.
This course allows students to get hands-on experience with hemp growing, trimming, etc. Professor Fiero brings in experts from all over the cannabis growing and processing side of the industry. The experts are amazing networking connections for those going into cannabis cultivation in the future.
Outside of teaching at Stockton, Fiero supervised a “large-scale, indoor, hydroponic garden growing medical cannabis and lots of biomass for extraction and fresh-frozen weed.”
She has worked as a cultivator/grower/farmer for nearly five years. Fiero thoroughly enjoys teaching at Stockton University.
Professor Thomas Olah has taught a Medical Marijuana class for a few years. He was the first professor to introduce this course to Stockton University.
Olah opened the first Compassionate Care Foundation Dispensary in South Jersey. That led to him teaching this course at Stockton.
The Compassionate Care Foundation was later bought by the large cannabis corporation that is Multi-State Operator (MSO) Acreage Holdings, which operates its dispensaries as the Botanist.
In his class, Olah covers many topics. They include the legalization and medicalization of marijuana, paraphernalia, and those who helped lead the modern age of marijuana education.
The professors all had advice for incoming and current students in the Hemp and Cannabis studies major/minor.
“The industry is still developing and changing quickly. So, if you were thinking about going into this industry, know that you have to have a good baseline of cannabis and/or hemp knowledge and then also be prepared for things to change,” said Mejia.
He said that obtaining and holding a Cannabis industry job hinged on:
(1) Who you know.
(2) What you know.
This is true for most jobs in America.
The first step is constant networking, preferably in person. Researching and attending many cannabis-related events, talking to many people, and meaningfully following up with all connections, like connecting on LinkedIn will help.
Secondly, become a jack-of-all-trades servicing Cannabis-related businesses. If you’re interested in being a grower, also learn how to be a budtender. Cannabis moved fast, and reading up on all developments made you an attractive employment prospect,” said Schain.
“Keep doing and studying the things that interest you, and try to keep going to events and networking. Stockton was a wonderful place to do that. Everyone who worked in cannabis was enthusiastic about it, so doing what you loved and had a passion for it made you really far in this industry,” said Fiero.
Many Stockton University cannabis students are now enrolled in the Hemp and Cannabis Studies major and minor.
McKenzie Perotti, a Hemp and Cannabis Studies major, said that she was extremely drawn to the program after taking Fiero’s class. After finding out about the major, Perotti switched majors immediately. She is a junior expected to graduate in the spring of 2026.
“I hadn’t regretted it since. Then, I felt more engaged with school and excited about my future,” Perotti said.
She is interning with the NJ CannaBusiness Association, thanks to Mejia. Perotti wanted to combine her learned skills from her Hemp and Cannabis major with her marketing ideas to help cannabis businesses shape their public image in a responsible and informative way.
Her advice for incoming Cannabis Studies students was “to get involved and network as much as possible. Reach out to your professors, they were incredible resources who could open doors you never imagined.”
Rubi Ortiz, a Cannabis Studies minor, wanted to learn more about the plant due to her mental health issues and her mother’s physical health issues.
After trial and error with many medications, cannabis was the first medication they tried that gave relief to their symptoms without creating new problems. Ortiz hoped to open her own cannabis business in the future and help advocate for our rights to continue the use of this plant.
Stockton University is a great place for Hemp and Cannabis students to learn and grow with their industry as the laws change around us.
“}]] Stockton University in South Jersey has become a center of cannabis industry incubation with its Hemp and Cannabis Studies program. Read More