With the recent legalization of cannabis in New York State, local universities have begun to develop cannabis and hemp programs, and Cornell University was an early entrant.
The 2018 Farm Bill signed into law by former President Donald Trump cleared Cornell to begin research on hemp – not a full cannabis program, but overview classes on the plant itself.
“We were the first ones out of the gate,” said Dr. Carlyn Buckler, the head professor of Cornell’s hemp program – though she said the classes looked much different before New York passed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act in March of 2021.
“Two weeks before the fall semester, the folks from the administration said, ‘oh, by the way, you can’t say the word cannabis in your class,’” said Buckler. “They were really afraid that we were going to lose all of our federal funding.”
Read more at syracuse.com