Government House Cutting Cannabis College Costs

Virgin Islanders hoping to enter the soon-to-be legal cannabis industry could get deeply discounted cannabis college courses courtesy of Government House.

Gov. Albert Bryan’s office plans to foot up to 60 percent of tuition for courses on horticulture and plant maintenance, cannabis-related manufacturing, and the business side of the cannabis industry. The classes are offered by Oakland-based Oaksterdam University, which bills itself as the nation’s first cannabis college.

Oaksterdam President and CEO Dale Sky Jones said while the industry is exciting and can be very profitable, there are also myriad pitfalls to watch out for. Predatory lenders, complicated regulations, and even new-to-legal-cannabis enthusiasm can lead to disaster, Jones warned.

Some of the safest new-business bets may be cannabis-adjacent, not cannabis centered, she said. Only a few of the eager prospectors who flooded to California and Alaska when gold was discovered actually got rich. But those who sold mining equipment, food, and shelter went on to do well.