Cannabis Industry Needs Better Training
Updated: May 5
Welcome to our new series Cannabis Industry Issues. Today, we're tackling the sensitive topic of cannabis skills and knowledge. More specifically, we're addressing the sufficiency of the cannabis training and knowledge transfer received by the average cannabis industry staffer.
Cannabis Training is Steeped in Complexity
Since the beginning of legal cannabis in 1996 in California under Proposition 215, marijuana consumers have been complaining about undertrained and undereducated retail staff in legal dispensaries, collectives, and clubs. Routinely (and typically unwittingly and innocently), untrained industry staff members spread cannabis misinformation among colleagues and customers. Ignorance is like an aggressive cancer; untreated, it simply continues to spread.
To be real, the delicate and nuanced biochemistry of marijuana and hemp is a set of topics steeped in complexity and technicality, the details about which humans are only beginning to gain true insight (major components of this dynamic were discovered only as recently as the 1990s). Fueled by the non-stop wave of marijuana legalization that is sweeping not only North America, but the globe (see Thailand, Germany, and Uruguay), researchers are turning their attention to the once-eschewed but still immensely controversial herb that most consumers call weed or pot.
"Researchers are turning their attention to the once-eschewed but still immensely controversial herb that most consumers call weed or pot."
Cannabis Industry Training Deficiency
While the defense of "we're not pharmacists" is certainly legitimate, budtenders who are untrained on and ignorant of basic components of cannabis, including terpenes and the endocannabinoid system, have for years frustrated both their employers, company investors, and the customers who walk through their doors.
The lack of knowledge and usable skills of untrained staff thwarts the hard work and long hours of all company stakeholders by delivering a subpar experience to customers—and, along with it, a potent dose of competitive disadvantage. Ignorant staff members turn opportunities to impress customers and clients into failures that, ironically, instead push them away, serving only to feed the competition.
Untrained Staff Turn Opportunities into Disadvantages
Pain patients report regular interactions with dispensary staff that involve retorts such as a terse "any indica will do" in response to their search for a cannabis product to effectively and consistently treat themselves. Issues such as potential adverse events and interactions with common pharmaceutical drugs such as opiates typically go unaddressed. Why? Because all parties involved are ignorant of what the latest research tells us.
With respect to cannabis training and skills, North America is a pathwork of regulatory structures, with some jurisdictions requiring cannabis training and others not. Some have called the situation a pocketed mess, with different business plans and operational strategies required for each state or province in which a company operates.
"Why, in 2023, does this deficiency in staff training exist? Why do dispensary customers continue to lament that, often, they know more than their budtender?"
Why, in 2023, does this blatant deficiency in staff cannabis training still exist? Why do dispensary customers, both patients and lifestyle consumers, continue to lament the fact that, very often, they know more than their budtender?
Photo courtesy Darryl Glubczynski
On-demand & Self-paced Cannabis Training
Higher Learning LV has been dubbed disruptive because we stick to our core values and develop and deliver all of our premium cannabis training with your bottom line in mind. Part of our approach involves fully on-demand and self-paced cannabis training in which you and your staff members engage at your convenience—and your speed. Let us explain....
Our expert instructional developers have extensive experience in both instructor-led and self-paced enterprise training environments. They know that the average live classroom works in thirds. Despite everyone's best efforts, only one-third of students receive the training at a pace and speed that is good for them. The other two-thirds of the students endure a pace that is either too fast or too slow. Either way, their learning process is seriously hindered and their resulting retention of learning goals, sadly, is decreased.
Students Make the Important Cannabis Training Decisions
Training that is developed and delivered as self-paced and on-demand fully avoids these problems, allowing students to guide the speed, setting, and timing of their cannabis training. Unless these environmental factors are suitably dialed in, staff members will not gain the maximum benefit from the time and money invested in their cannabis training and education.
"Higher Learning LV's on-demand cannabis training is not only more economical, but immensely more flexible."
Higher Learning LV's cannabis training is not only more economical, but immensely more flexible (making it even less expensive in the long run). We guarantee that you and your staff will learn more and better information in less time and for fewer dollars than with any of our competitors. And we mean any.
Enterprise organizations can give their employees the option of cannabis training on their own time or during off-hours, when the phone isn't ringing and the meeting calendar isn't chirping. Individuals can manage their cannabis training after the kids are in bed or the lawn work is completed.
Scheduled Physical Classes: Inefficient & Expensive
Scheduled classes—particularly those requiring the physical presence of a student—are very 1994. Not only are such outdated approaches to cannabis industry training and education environmentally inefficient, but the expense in terms of time and money simply can't compete with the on-demand and free-flowing online seminars and courses from Higher Learning LV.
"Today, mobile, desktop, and living room tech has evolved to allow our students to enroll in Higher Learning LV's courses and seminars from any platform."
Today, mobile, desktop, and living room tech has evolved to allow our students to enroll in Higher Learning LV's cannabis training courses and seminars from any platform, including smartphones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops, and even smart TVs.
Higher Learning LV Cannabis Seminars
At only $80, we priced our cannabis seminars to be as inclusive as possible. This low fee allows even individuals and companies on a budget to participate and enjoy our premium cannabis training. Each cannabis seminar features a dozen detailed homework assignments, including helpful Overview and Review assignments to reinforce the most important facts and learning points.
Cannabis for Anxiety, Cannabis for Cancer, & Cannabis for Pain
We open for enrollment several new cannabis seminars every month, so check back often to see our latest catalog. Our current cannabis seminars include the following (click the buttons to learn more):
Next in line is Cannabis for Depression and Cannabis for Sleep Disorders, followed by Cannabis for Arthritis, Cannabis for PTSD, and Cannabis for Epilepsy.
Higher Learning LV Cannabis Courses
At $240 and $380, our research-based on-demand cannabis courses are our most detailed and resource-heavy cannabis training assets, offering students between 32 and 64 homework assignment and a path to cannabis skills certification (something not available for our seminars).
Core Cannabis Course
Our first cannabis course—and the universal prerequisite for all other cannabis courses offered by Higher Learning LV—is Core Cannabis. This $240 short course features 34 homework assignments that teach students about the 25 most important cannabinoids and eight most common terpenes produced by cannabis.
This cannabis course covers the groundbreaking Super Class terpenes that resulted from a pinnacle October 2022 research study that examined the effect of two of these cannabinoids in fish.
Higher Learning LV is Your Cannabis Training Source
At Higher Learning LV, we're the disruptive new on-demand cannabis training company that is getting the attention of industry professionals and the enterprise organizations that employ them. The latest statistics indicate that the cannabis industry is comprised of more than 450,000 full-time staff members.
Most of these have not received sufficient cannabis training. Many have received no cannabis training whatsoever. All need to improve their understanding of the latest scientific research results to gain the clearest insight into the potential of the Cannabis sativa L. botanical species—particularly with respect to improving human health and providing economic opportunity within regulated legal markets.
All of Higher Learning LV's cannabis training resources carry surprisingly low enrollment fees. It's our way of doing real work to decrease stigma and misinformation
From company founders to product formulators to cultivation managers and dispensary technicians, all industry professionals must learn and understand as much as possible about this herbal species. This includes the best currently known details regarding the biochemical mechanisms underlying its interaction with the human and mammalian endocannabinoid system.
Higher Learning LV Cannabis Training Assets are Affordable
It all sounds great in theory, right? But companies cannot enroll staff members in training that they cannot afford. Because of this simple dynamic, we have embraced affordability and economic inclusivity since our launch in 2021.
All of Higher Learning LV's cannabis training resources carry surprisingly low enrollment fees. It is our way of getting your attention and helping to put our money where our mouth is in terms of doing real work to decrease the stigma, misinformation, and urban legends that have emerged after a century of marijuana and hemp prohibition around the world.
Join us on our mission of cannabis training and education.
Are you a cannabis industry professional? Check out Higher Learning LV's Deep Dive Subscription that features dozens of long-form articles based on the latest peer-reviewed scientific research. Priced to accommodate personal and enterprise training budgets.