Woman working at Terre di Cannabis farm. Photo by Terre di Cannabis on Unsplash.

Oakton Community College is offering a cannabis certification course beginning with their fall semester. The course, Cannabis Dispensary and Patient Care Specialist Certificate is geared towards the rapidly evolving cannabis market in Illinois.

“We saw an opportunity to provide job training for students in an emerging market,” said Bob Sompolski, Dean of STEM & Health Careers. Sompolski continued, “Starting in January the law will allow recreational marijuana to be sold. We are having internal discussions on how to expand this curriculum to try and address that market.”

Ruth Williams, Assistant VP of Academic Affairs, said “This fall we launched the program. We currently have 100 students enrolled in the program. And we have over 400 students that are on our inquiry or waitlist for the program. So, we’re looking to expand the program this spring.”

Oakton – located in Des Plaines, a suburb of Chicago, also hosted the Cannabis Business Alliance of Illinois Career Fair. There were several vendors present offering jobs for dispensaries, cultivations, and transportations. There were also organizations to help people looking to get into the cannabis industry business.

Watch this video news clip for ABC 7 Chicago.