A community college has announced plans to build a marijuana cultivation lab on its Des Plaines Ill., campus.
The Daily Herald reports that Oakton Community College's 2,900-square-foot lab will be the first facility of its kind for an Illinois community college.
A $600,000 donation from the cannabis company PharmaCann Inc., will pay for the facility.
The school also will earmark $50,000 from the donation for the PharmaCann Scholarship for Cannabis Education Programs. Priority for the scholarships will be given to students of color, people adversely affected by prior marijuana laws, and victims of domestic violence.
Recreational use of marijuana became legal in Illinois in 2020.
In 2019, Oakton launched the first cannabis-specific academic program in Illinois.
Steve Fix, Oakton Cannabis Studies faculty chair, said the curriculum will be able to offer more opportunities with the cultivation lab.
"The cannabis industry is changing very rapidly, and the workforce needs to change along with it," he said.
The college says the cultivation lab will include humidity, temperature, aeration and security controls. The space will include three grow rooms as well as areas for plant drying and waste.
Because current federal law does not allow cannabis to be grown on campus, botanically identical plants such as hemp and tomatoes will be used in the lab. If and when the law changes, the lab will be able to provide students a more accurate experience, officials said.
Construction of the lab is expected to begin in July and be completed in time for the semester beginning in January 2022.
