Cannabis Workforce Initiative gearing up to educate, marijuana
As the Empire State's legal adult-use cannabis market opens, a group is trying to get as many people as possible to consider a career in marijuana.
The New York State Cannabis Workforce Initiative,
A partly state-funded collaborative effort of the Workforce Development Institute and Cornell University's School of Industrial & Labor Relations has trained about 250 people on the basics of the cannabis industry.
In a state where elected officials see a need for this education, and address it in a way that no other state has ever addressed cannabis and the workforce, I am very grateful. Delivery of workforce equity for people from impacted communities is what this is about.
Serrano, a service-disabled Navy veteran who has worked in the legal cannabis industry across the country, said that he and other leaders of the joint project are connecting people with the educational and training resources they need to be successful.
Serrano moved to Colorado in order to work in the legal sector of that state. He is the founder and chief of business development for Harvest 360, a consulting firm for marijuana entrepreneurs.
Cornell and the Workforce Development Institute have expertise in cannabis education.
Cornell is giving information about worker rights and employers' legal responsibilities whileWDI is creating training focused on industry education.
About 30,000 decent-paying jobs could be created across the state if state residents learned about the industry. According to a study conducted in 2021, the industry could eventually employ over 50,000 people in New York State and generate over $2 billion in employee compensation. The work has been funded by a $250,000 budget allocation from New York's state cannabis legislature to Cornell.
Serrano said that the group is currently offering a 15-hour training program for beginners in the cannabis industry.
The program is free to all New Yorkers and gives a glimpse of how the seed-to-sale supply chain works. Cannabis training can be done via in-person classes, live online sessions, and self-directed online courses. Serrano will begin teaching a 10-week course on January 25th.
Serrano said that the course is an overview of the opportunities. Our goal is to illuminate the opportunities.
They used the events to learn more about what the introduction course should teach and how to find a cannabis job.
Cornell and staffers gathered information in a series of meetings. The virtual community forums were hosted through the 10 regional offices of the nonprofit. They used the events to learn more about what the introduction course should teach and how to find a cannabis job.
The leader of the labor and employment law program at Cornell, as well as head of the legal education portion of CWI, has been conducting a nationwide survey of cannabis business owners to figure out which types will be most prominent in the New York market.
Over 40 educational community events were supported by members of CWI and attended by some 7,000 people.
It's still early for New York's legal adult-use industry, especially when it comes to developing the workforce that will staff retail shops, cultivation and processing operations and other parts of the weed supply chain.
As the industry matures and people seek more specialized knowledge, the group may eventually expand the kinds of training it provides.
Serrano said that the current training content will not be enough in the future. We are ready to dive deeper into skills development.
The New York Cannabis Insider's conferences are supported by the NYS Cannabis Workforce Initiative.
An earlier version of the story didn't include the legislature's allocation to CWI. The story has been changed.
Keywords: Cannabis Workforce Initiative, Workforce Development Institute, State Cannabis Workforce, York State Cannabis
Source: www.syracuse.com
How marijuana could become legal in Ohio in 2023
Marijuana will be legalized at the federal level in the US House of Representatives.
The Secretary of State in Ohio has submitted a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana.
After a legal skirmish struck the initiated statute from last year's ballot, Secretary of State Frank LaRose reintroduced an act to legalize, tax, and regulate the adult use of cannabis. If the Republican Statehouse fails to adopt the measure within four months, voters in Ohio will be asked if they want to amend the state constitution.
A 10% tax on the sale of all cannabis products is included in the act.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Ohio would be the 21st state to allow the drug's recreational use.
The war on drugs is a complete failure. Tom Haren, an attorney for the Ohio Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, said that prohibition doesn't work and that a different approach is needed.
The Coalition and LaRose reached an agreement in May after the pro-legalization group accused Republican lawmakers of blocking the cannabis question from the ballot.
The Coalition sparred with LaRose and state lawmakers over the interpretation of a 10-day deadline related to ballot initiatives.
When a new slate of legislators convened in January, the Coalition would be allowed to reuse the initial signatures it collected in support of legalization.
The General Assembly is unlikely to approve legalization. Republican leaders want to enhance Ohio's medical marijuana program instead of opposing the legalization of the drug.
One of the lawmaker-led attempts to legalize cannabis was introduced on 4/20 last year, but it is not currently being considered.
Haren is hoping that a ballot initiative will lead to legalization in Ohio. The Coalition can place the question before Ohio voters in November 2023 if the legislature fails to act in four months.
Senate President Matt Huffman made a different prediction He told reporters on Tuesday that a marijuana ballot question would fail the same way as the last one, which was rejected by more than half of the electorate.
Haren argued that Ohioans are ready for legalization. According to a Siena College poll, sixty percent of Ohio's population supports the legalization of cannabis.
It is not a question of whether or not marijuana will be legalized in Ohio. There are two questions, when and how. Haren made a statement.
Adults would be allowed to grow up to six marijuana plants in their home.
More than a quarter of the revenue from the cannabis tax will go to social equity and jobs programs, according to Haren.
Haren said that legalizing marijuana is a good policy. In the event the U.S. Senate passes the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, he argued, it would be a proactive way to make sure Ohio is in line with federal law.
The MORE Act was approved by the US House of Representatives in April of last year.
"If marijuana is rescheduled at the federal level, it will automatically be descheduled at the state level, which means overnight, it's legal, unregulated, untaxed, capable of being sold by anyone anywhere, with no age requirement." That is sort of a dire situation.
Keywords: Ohio, marijuana, Haren, State Frank LaRose
Source: fox8.com