INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Cleveland School of Cannabis has trained hundreds of workers in the medical marijuana business. Now it has a program that teaches people to grow marijuana at home where its legal, which does not include Ohio.
The school is launching My First Plant, a 16-week course that will also teach students to cultivate hemp, which can be legally grown at home in Ohio with the proper license. Because of Ohio law, instructors based in California will teach the class remotely.
Kevin Greene, vice president at the School of Cannabis, said the course is also a great introduction to hemp growing. A farmer in Ohio, for example, might want to start with My First Plant before dedicating acres to a new crop.
In the 18 states and in Washington, D.C. where growing marijuana is legal, Greene said growing at home could bring huge savings. A person with a serious illness may need $500 to $600 of medical cannabis a month, depending on the state and the taxes, he said.
Learning to grow at home is also an equity issue, he said, and it opens access to more people.
The program may be more applicable in places like Michigan, where medical marijuana patients were able to grow a limited number of plants at home. Although legalizing recreational marijuana opened it up to all residents over 21.
My First Plant is $2,700 and includes a turn-key kit that comes with a grow tent, lights, soil, nutrients pots and marijuana or hemp seeds, again depending on students’ local laws.
Greene said the first course, which starts Sept. 19, will accept about 20 students. It can be found at cannahubedu.com/mfp.
The School of Cannabis opened in Independence in 2017, and about 750 students have graduated since then. Greene said more than 60% are working in the medical marijuana field.
For the first few years, students had to learn to grow marijuana by growing other other plants, such as tomatoes, because the school couldn’t legally grow marijuana.
Greene said the school got the licenses needed to grow hemp in the last few months, giving students something closer to the actual plant to practice on. The school has planted about 600 seeds and is building a hemp lab.
Training programs at the School of Cannabis last six months for full-time students and eight to nine months for part-time students, Greene said.
He said the best resource for Ohioans interested in hemp growing is the state’s Department of Agriculture. The agency has more information at agri.ohio.gov/divisions/hemp-program/resources.