Growing cannabis is pictured. (Courtesy photo)

MARQUETTE — Over the past few years, marijuana has gone from an illicit substance mainly trafficked underground whose use was largely frowned upon, to a more than $50 billion dollar industry in the United States.

The state of Michigan has got in on the business as well, after voters overwhelmingly chose to legalize marijuana for recreational use during the 2018 midterm elections, with businesses opening in earnest in 2019. In Marquette county alone, well over a dozen dispensaries are currently in operation, with many of those businesses being prominent sponsors of Marquette’s many festivals, including the Camp Cannabis festival last fall.

The many dispensaries throughout the Upper Peninsula represent a lot of jobs as well, both entry level jobs like budtenders and several higher end marketing and management positions.

Cannabis jobs around the country have grown exponentially since legalization has come to 23 states and other United States territories, with cannabis employment agency Vangst estimating that the cannabis industry represents 417,493 full time jobs in the United States. Their yearly report also says that Michigan is second in the nation in cannabis jobs, behind only California, with 35,405 jobs throughout the state being in the pot industry.

While the business of weed has undeniably been a success for local economies, the science of pot has also become a key component of education, with both Northern Michigan University and Lake Superior State University creating programs that focus on the chemistry behind the plant and also the business of its distribution.

Northern Michigan University’s Medicinal Plant Chemistry program has been a hit for the university, garnering national attention from outlets such as NBC News, USA Today and CNBC who all took interest in the program.

Starting in 2018, the Medicinal Plant Chemistry major started off strong, with an initial head count of 231 Northern students selecting it as their first major. The program was clearly a hit as well, as the introduction of the marijuana-focused major more than doubling total enrollment in NMU’s chemistry program, with the previous years total sitting at 155 students and jumping up to 384 with the introduction of the major.

The program’s numbers took a dip after the pandemic, with 2021 and 2022 numbers falling to 287 and 216 respectively. While those numbers may look like a negative, they are in line with NMU’s continued decline in enrollment after COVID-19.

While numbers may be dropping, the program has become a flagship for NMU over the past few years, as the program gained national recognition for being the first of its kind in the nation.

While some may have written the program off initially due to its subject matter, the programs goals are much more serious than it may seem on the surface.

NMU says that “increasing legitimacy and legality of medicinal plants nationwide has created a great demand for qualified technical personnel and great opportunity for the skilled entrepreneur in the cannabis, herbal extract and natural product industries.”

The program has proven to be a serious and challenging series of courses for students, with classes ranging from quantitative analysis, gas and liquid chromatography and biochemistry, with other requirements from biology and mathematics portions of the curriculum.