A Master's In Marijuana? University Of Maryland Explores New Frontier In Higher Ed

toggle caption Courtesy of/University of Maryland School of Pharmacy

Before she sets off for work each day in downtown D.C., Summer Kriegshauser logs on to a website where she makes her way through lectures and classwork. Like many Washington denizens, she's working toward a master's degree — her second, in fact — with the hope that the additional credential will offer her a chance to change careers.

But what sets her program apart is its subject: marijuana.

Kriegshauser, 40, is one of 150 students in the inaugural class of the University of Maryland, Baltimore's Master of Science in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics, the first graduate program of its type in the country.

The program stands largely alone: some universities offer one-off classes on marijuana and two have created undergraduate degree in medicinal plant chemistry, but none have yet gone as far as Maryland.

Stretched over two years and conducted almost exclusively online, the program launches as an increasing number of jurisdictions across the country legalize marijuana — primarily for medical uses, but in some places recreational, as well. Meanwhile, the industry is maturing in some of the places that first adopted it, including the District.

Almost three dozen states have legalized medical marijuana — D.C. did so in 2013, Maryland in 2017 — creating an ever-expanding universe of opportunities for people looking to grow, process, recommend and sell the drug to patients. And given how quickly attitudes and laws on marijuana are shifting, those opportunities are expected to keep expanding. Advocates say that Virginia, for one, could be next in the region to fully legalize medical marijuana.

But as quickly as the industry has grown, expertise remains largely informal or gained only through experience. And for people looking to change careers, like Kriegshauser, making the leap into legal marijuana can seem risky and the likely job options hard to come by.

"I didn't want to quit my really great job and work at a dispensary making $12 to $14 an hour learning —or think I was learning —about cannabis," she says. "I really wanted a scientific basis for learning the properties of cannabis, all the cannabinoids and how they interact with the body; I wanted to learn about dosing, I wanted to learn about all the ailments and how cannabis is used within a medical treatment plan, and I just wasn't finding that anywhere."

Dr. Leah Sera, the program's director, says officials at the university's pharmacy school noticed a parallel trend: more and more of their graduates were entering a professional world where marijuana is seen as an alternative medicine for any number of ailments, and one that more patients are curious about.

"There's been a number of studies primarily with health professionals indicating that there is an educational gap related to medical cannabis, that health professionals want more education because patients are coming to them with questions about cannabis and therapeutic uses," she says.

And that's what attracted Karriem Farrakhan, 44, and his wife — both of whom are already pharmacists — to come back to their alma mater.

"Cannabis programs are popping up in many different states across the nation, and as pharmacists it would almost be negligent if we didn't even look at it," he says. "When you're dealing with the public, they come up with questions, they're seeing the news, and if you're not educating yourself on that, you're doing them a disservice."

Sera says the program was initially conceived by Natalie D. Eddington, the school's dean, and received the go-ahead from the Board of Regents in May and the state's higher education commission in June. Before that, however, it had to be cleared by Maryland's attorney general, who needed an assurance that students would not be handling marijuana on campus.

The response was overwhelming: 506 hopefuls applied for what was supposed to be a class of 50, prompting the university to increase the size of the inaugural class threefold. And the class is geographically diverse, coming from 32 states and D.C., even Hong Kong and Australia. The students take four required core courses — including one on the history of medical marijuana and culture, and two basic science classes. Students then choose between a number of electives.

One challenge with an academic program on marijuana is the fact the drug remains illegal under federal law, which means very little concrete research exists for students to dig into. But as that changes, Sera says, the program will continue to evolve.

And she expects that students will see immediate opportunities in the rapidly expanding marijuana industry once they graduate. As of 2019, more than 211,000 jobs have been created by the legalization of marijuana across the country, according to the online guide Leafly. In Maryland alone, the state's medical marijuana program already has more than 84,000 registered patients and has seen $178 million in retail sales in its first two years.

"Students who graduate from our program will have an opportunity to leap-frog over entry-level positions in medical cannabis industry positions that already exist. This field is evolving very rapidly, and in two years things may look very different and so the opportunities for professional path may look very different. I believe that our students may play a large role in developing a lot of those opportunities as they go forth," Sera said.

Stephanie Kahn has co-owned the Takoma Wellness Center in D.C. for the last six years, and she says that many employees in the industry come with little formal training or education. She says a degree like the one UMD Baltimore now offers will make them more competitive applicants for jobs dealing with patients in dispensaries.

"Some people they know what they want, they come in and say, 'I want this strain.' That's easy. But for most people, even people who have been using cannabis for 30 years, they don't know very much about it," she says. "Our staff really have to have an understanding of what the different strains can do, how they can help, and help the patient determine, depending on their symptoms and their lifestyle, what they would like to start with. Because there is still a whole lot of trial and error with cannabis. It's not a matter of take two aspirin every six hours."

There remains plenty of uncertainty, of course, and as recreational marijuana is made legal in more places, established medical programs and their associated jobs risk being left by the wayside. But Kriegshauser says making the leap into Maryland's marijuana program made sense for her — and she bets it will pay off.

"There's a lot of risk of being the early adopter, of being the first class. But it was so exciting that I wanted to take that risk," she says. "I feel like the trend or the direction America is heading is pro-cannabis and I feel very confident that getting a master of science in medical cannabis therapeutics will only enhance my professional career."