Illinois university students create ‘cannabis clubs’
We believe incorporating academia into the cannabis community is one of the best ways to help normalize the plant. This not only includes faculty, administration, and cannabis horticulture courses but also students. One positive trend in academia in Illinois is the creation of registered student organizations (RSO) for “cannabis clubs.” For example, the University of Illinois has its first official cannabis-related RSO, The Hemp Club. Students at Western Illinois University have created the WIU Cannabis Club, and students at Illinois State University have created Cannabis Club Redbirds.
Jacqueline Heim, Cannabis Club Redbirds President, founded the RSO in December 2022 because she “wanted the same type of opportunities that other agriculture students had within the department, such as networking and internships, but within the cannabis industry.” So Heim found enough likeminded people, and two advisors, to start the club.
Cannabis Club Redbirds host weekly open meetings, often with a guest speaker, from 6-7 p.m. at Moulton Hall, room 210. The club also hosts events, including a Halloweed Baked Sale, Clean-Up the Trail, and other fundraisers. Monday, “yours truly” will be Cannabis Club Redbirds’ guest speaker to discuss how Illinois News Joint fits into the Illinois cannabis industry. The following week, Dec. 4, Allison Dries from the craft cannabis company Enliven will be the guest speaker.
Heim and Cannabis Club Redbirds plan to host more events and to “educate, destigmatize, and explore career opportunities in the cannabis industry.” Heim, who also works at Cookies Bloomington, plans more advocacies for the plant and cannabis cardholders in the area. Cannabis Club Redbirds has 95 members and two advisors, Dr. Rob Rhykerd and Alex Kraft.
“I personally started this club because I wanted to bridge the gap between my college education and my cannabis education,” Heim said, “and I wanted that for my classmates, who may have lacked access to the on-the-job training I was getting while working at a busy medical dispensary.”
For Heim, as with many cannabis advocates, rewriting the narrative and pushing back against the stigma is personal.
“I was expelled from high school in 2000 for having cannabis on me and have carried that stigma with me for a very long time,” Heim said, “so this is a very personal mission to me.”
Cannabis Club Redbirds can be found on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram @cannabisclubredbirds, GroupMe, and X. The University of Illinois Hemp Club can be found on Instagram @uiucthehempclub, and the WIU Cannabis Club can be found on Instagram @wiucannabisclub. For more Illinois cannabis industry news, visit here.
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