For incoming students in Colorado State University, getting baked may no longer just be an extracurricular activity.
Beginning this autumn, CSU students on the Pueblo campus will now be able to study cannabis.
Colorado state officials confirmed on Friday that a bachelor’s of science program in Cannabis Biology and Chemistry would launch this autumn on CSU’s Pueblo campus.
“The new major is a pro-active response to a rapidly changing national scene regarding the cannabis plant,” said a proposal for the program by CSU-Pueblo officials.
The proposal pointed to changing attitudes towards cannabis, and increasing acceptance of legalising the drug for recreational and medical use.
Students will be able to choose from one of two tracks – either a chemistry-based analytical track or a biology-driven natural products track, along with classes in maths and physics.
Graduates of the programme will be primed to enter into Colorado’s lucrative cannabis industry, with sales between 2014 and 2019 exceeding $6.5 billion.
“Educating students who are capable of understanding cannabis science is required for the industry in all its aspects to be effective and safe for the consumer,” said the course proposal.
