Officials at Olive-Harvey College on Chicago’s Far South Side hope to use cannabis as a tool to help reverse the affects of failed drug prevention policies.

The college has established a new Associates of Applied Science in Cannabis Studies degree program with tuition set at $149 per credit hour with no registration fee for incoming students statewide.

Olive-Harvey Dean Akilah Easter said the program is especially important for the college’s South Side and south suburban neighbors.

“We wanted to bring it into a neighborhood that’s been affected the most by the war on drugs,” Easter said, citing outsized prison sentences for minor infractions such as cannabis possession. “Many people want to get an understanding of the significance of this plant.”

Rather than just focusing on the production of cannabis for the state’s growing legal weed industry, the program addresses the cultural and societal impact of cannabis and its use, she said.

“It will teach them the science of the plants, the laws associated with the plants — to prevent them from getting into trouble in the future,” Easter said. “The propaganda associated with the plant can be dispelled, particularly that against Black and brown people.”

Easter, who teaches in Olive-Harvey’s Urban Agriculture Department and helped write the curriculum, can sometimes be found helping out in the college’s greenhouse, where students learn about the plants and how to care for them.

Olive-Harvey College began offering a noncredit cannabis program a few years ago through its Continuing Education Department, which evolved to offer basic certificates in Cannabis Applied Studies and in Dispensary Operations Specialist and an advanced certificate in Cannabis Processing Technician along with the new Associates of Applied Science in Cannabis Studies.

“This program amplifies the science of Cannabis and provides a leg up in the workforce because it affords our students a plant-touching, hands-on experience in our newly built greenhouse,” said college President Kimberly Hollingsworth

Hollingsworth said student enthusiasm led to the expanded curriculum, and students on the college’s Advisory Voice committee also had input in the process.

“We have experts in the field teaching our courses and students have shared that they find them to be extremely knowledgeable, supportive and helpful,” Hollingsworth said.

Olive-Harvey’s degree program is an uncommon offering in the area. Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills offers noncredit cannabis certificate programs but no degree pathway, and Prairie State College in Chicago Heights offers classes focused on the business side of cannabis rather than agriculture.

The Olive-Harvey program touts the potential for graduates to work in different facets of the new field, including scientific, legal, compliance, cultivation, advocacy and business aspects, according to the college.

It offers the chance, Hollingsworth said, for students “to pursue their career goals in a sky-is-the-limit industry.”

Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.