New Jersey-based Atlantic Cape Community College introduced a zero-credit cannabis course within the institution. The course is titled, “Cannabis 101: Essential Knowledge for a Growing Industry.”

Thre are now 13 students have already enrolled for the six-week course. The class reportedly started last month.

In attempts to provide more insight on the flourishing cannabis industry, the Atlantic Cape Community College launched a course that delves deeper into the industry. Vice President of Academic Affairs Josette Katz said the course “[is] an overview. Rather than starting out with a credit class, we wanted to gauge the interest that the constituents in Atlantic and Cape May counties had on the topic.”

Cannabis Course – How it Came to Be

The course’s introduction to the college comes amid the legalizations happening left and right in the United States. Moreover, the class comes at a crucial time in history, in particular, during the continued pursuit of obtaining state cannabis licenses and providing more dispensaries and marijuana facilities in various locations of the country.

The zero-credit course is done with support and participation with the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association. The organization reportedly helps college students and faculty alike to shed more insight on cannabis from an academic perspective.

After holding the short course, Katz expressed her sentiments, saying the college hopes to gain more understanding and awareness about the pans student have after learning about the cannabis industry. Following student feedback, Atlantic Cape will provide classes as a response to the enthusiasm and reception of the initial offering.

Apart from the Atlantic Cape Community College, other educational centers have already pioneered this in the state. Ashbury Park Press shares that Stockton University and Union County College have also debuted cannabis-centric courses within their institutions. Both of the classes were also done in partnership with CannaBusiness Association. The course names supposedly took on a pun-filled name.

Of these courses, Stockton University initially offered a minor in cannabis studies in 2018. As the interest of the students and the public grew, so did the course offerings by the New Jersey-based university.

Besides education access to this budding industry, the New Jersey educational institutions also look forward to providing research and internship opportunities in the future.

Currently, the state of New Jersey has strengthened its medical marijuana program for patients. Today, approximately 51,000 patients, 2,000 caregivers, and 1,000 doctors have joined in on the initiative. However, the state remains at a standstill on the legalization of recreational cannabis in the area.

German police recently reported that a funeral party in the city of Rostock was supplied with cannabis cake. The Guardian reported that the restaurant served the marijuana-infused cake by mistake.

According to the authorities, attendees of the burial in Wiethagen stopped by the resto after the funeral for coffee and cake, in accordance with German customs. However, 13 people reported feeling dizzy and nauseous after consuming the cake served by the restaurant. The mourners also required medical assistance.

Upon examining the case, police discovered that the confection served by the restaurant was laced with the plant. According to the report, the staff responsible for the cakes asked her daughter to bake the cake.

The 18-year-old daughter obliged, however, opted to bake another one for a different event. The other cake was infused with cannabis. When the mourners ordered confections, the mother mistakenly served the cannabis-laced cake.

As of this writing, the staff’s daughter is currently being investigated.

Cannabis Legalization in Germany

The incident occurred back in August and that authorities decided to make it public recently as respect to the funeral attendees.

With this incident, there is no better time to discuss the status of marijuana legalization in Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has recently been considering the complete legalization of the plant, Deutsche Welle reported.

Maria Wendt, CDU’s interior policy spokesperson, said that “cannabis could be freed for personal use, of course with controlled production and distribution.” She also noted that the “resources freed in the police and judiciary should be used to fight the illegal trade” of the plant.

The CDU’s complete shift in its stance of marijuana came in light of the new drug czar’s liberal stand on the matter. According to drug commissioner Daniela Ludwig, it is important to “stop with the ideologically charged black-or-white debates” regarding cannabis. She also stated that drug-related laws should focus on practicality as a progressive approach can help protect the health of the people.

Currently, the plant is only legal for medicinal use. The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices allow the cultivation, selling, owning and exportation of the plant, as long they the interested parties acquire permission.

Regarding prosecution, Germany typically does not take cases involving possession of 6 grams or less to court. This limit is agreed upon by interior ministers in 2018.

Iowa’s Medical Cannabidiol Board, the office that regulates Iowa’s medical marijuana program, is set to meet on Friday to consider changes to the state’s medical-marijuana program. Among the petitions include adding qualifying conditions and replacing the 3% limit on THC with a purchase limit.

The board is said to vote on petitions that would allow people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), opioid use disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, and intellectual disability with aggression and/or self-injury to qualify for the state’s medical marijuana program.

Iowa’s Medical Cannabis Program

If approved, this will add four conditions to the list of Iowa’s current qualifying conditions for medical cannabis program, which originally include cancer, seizures, Crohn’s disease, untreatable pain, multiple sclerosis, AIDS/HIV, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, terminal illness (with less than one year probable life expectancy), Ulcerative colitis, Corticobasal Degeneration, severe, intractable autism with self-injurious or aggressive behaviour, and severe, intractable pediatric autism with self-injurious or aggressive behaviour.

The petitions to add PTSD, Alzheimer’s disease, and opioid abuse disorder were submitted by MedPharm Iowa, the first manufacturer and dispensary of medical cannabis in Iowa.

MedPharm General Manager Lucas Nelson said the petition stands as a comprehensive proposal with “more than 60 sources” that demonstrate the effectiveness of medical marijuana for people with the condition.

“It’s not going to work for every single patient, but in this compassionate care program, there’s no reason it would not be one of the approved conditions,” Nelson said.

Aside from the petition to add qualifying conditions, the board is also set to vote on a recommendation to remove the 3 percent THC cap on products on Friday and replace it with a purchase limit instead.

Under the current Iowa law, medical marijuana products must not contain more than 3 percent THC. If the new proposal is to be approved, products can now exceed the given 3% THC limit. However, in turn, people would only be allowed to purchase products that contain a total of up to 4.5 grams of THC in a 90-day period.

In May this year, a bill that would have increased the allowable THC dosage for therapeutic cannabis products has been vetoed by the Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds.

“This change was not recommended by the board,” said Gov Reynolds in a statement in June. “And if approved, it would drastically expand Iowa’s medical CBD program far beyond its original scope of CBD-based treatments and could open the door to significant unintended consequences to the health and safety of Iowans.”

If the board approves the said petitions, they will be forwarded to the Iowa Medical Board for a vote.