Clark University to launch cannabis regulation program

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By Zachary Comeau

Clark University in Worcester has introduced what it calls the country’s first certificate program in cannabis control regulation.

The online program, Certificate in Regulatory Affairs for Cannabis Control, will launch in fall and is hoped to serve as a timely educational response to public policy issues at times perplexing municipal leaders and frustrated cannabis entrepreneurs.

With the new program, the school hopes to build partnerships with the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, which is moving to Worcester’s Union Station by the end of the year.

“There’s a great deal of cannabis research happening in the medical and scientific realms,” said John LaBrie, dean of the university’s School of Professional Studies and associate provost for professional graduate education. “Our degree program here at Clark University will examine the public-policy issues, which are being largely underserved right now.”

Labrie said the vast majority of Massachusetts is made up of small towns unprepared to handle the rapidly growing industry.

For example, Leicester was overrun when one of the first two recreational cannabis dispensaries on the East Coast opened in that town last November.

There are issues around how, when and where cannabis can be used. Currently, state law doesn’t allow cannabis to be used in public places, but the Cannabis Control Commission is discussing social consumption lounges.

Worcester has the only place in the state for social consumption in the Summit Lounge, a private club allowing members to bring their own cannabis, relying on a gray area in the law and local regulations on private clubs.

The program came out of the university’s Master of Public Administration program.

“As we have an MPA, we understand that the public-policy issues surrounding the legalization of cannabis really call for an answer from an educational perspective,” Labrie said.

The program is being marketed to both public officials and cannabis workers.

“The curriculum will cut through all the opposing and oftentimes biased viewpoints,” LaBrie said. “Participants will be able to understand the story of cannabis, how it fits into current society, the benefits and the risks of what we’re undertaking, and what to look forward to in the future."