{"id":1017,"date":"2021-09-09T23:48:32","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T23:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabisnow.com\/?p=57073"},"modified":"2021-09-09T23:48:32","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T23:48:32","slug":"ohio-program-trains-cannabis-offenders-for-industry-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=1017","title":{"rendered":"Ohio Program Trains Cannabis Offenders for Industry Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An Ohio nonprofit organization providing services for formerly incarcerated people has teamed up with a medical marijuana cultivator to develop a cannabis jobs training program for individuals with past  marijuana convictions.<\/p>\n

Dubbed URC Grows<\/a>, the collaboration between United Returning Citizens and Youngstown, Ohio licensed growing operation Riviera Creek Holdings LLC aims to pair past cannabis offenders with industry jobs in the state\u2019s legal cannabis market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis program will give [the past offenders] an opportunity to get back into the workforce,\u201d Brian Kessler, chairman of Riviera Creek Holdings, told The Business Journal<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The new jobs program will be open to those with prior marijuana-related offenses including cannabis possession, sales or cultivation on their records. Dionne Dowdy, executive director of United Returning Citizens (URC), told a local television news team that URC Grows is an attempt to address the harms caused by the failed War on Drugs while ensuring that the economic benefits of legal cannabis are shared with the most impacted communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were so many people that were jailed by this and now that everyone is making money off something that they are already sitting in jail for, we want to give them an opportunity. Everyone needs a second chance and these are the things that they can do that [are] just natural to them, that they will thrive in, so why not give them this opportunity,\u201d Dowdy said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dowdy added that she has already signed up two prior cannabis offenders for what she hopes will be an initial class of 10 students. Graduates of the cannabis job training program will be prepared to work in Ohio\u2019s growing medical industry, which currently serves approximately 200,000 registered patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already have a problem with workforce now but if we\u2019re taking the next people that are coming and we\u2019re training them and giving them an opportunity; to have a job, to have a career, to take care of their family, not only would it help them \u2013 it would help our city, it would help our community, it will help with the crime,\u201d Dowdy said.<\/p>\n

Developing Cannabis Entrepreneurs<\/strong><\/h4>\n

URC Grows will provide cannabis education and job training in three focused areas, with a certificate of completion awarded upon graduation from the program. Areas of study include: an agriculture program concentrating on hydroponics and aquaponics; an industrial hemp program designed to teach prospective farmers how to grow, process and sell hemp for fiber, grain, or CBD. The third track, a marijuana program, will provide education on cultivating medical-grade cannabis.<\/p>\n

After completion of the first phase of focused education, students will begin a second phase that includes entrepreneur and business development training. This means, assistance with developing a business plan and the filing of required business documentation. Those who complete the initial two phases of training will be offered a job or internship with Riviera Creek Holdings or the opportunity to maintain and grow a hemp crop for their own hemp-based business. To support the program, URC has received a grant from the Hawthorne Social Justice Fund to help students buy land or cover the startup costs of their business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe at Riviera are intending to help build the overall course work, what it looks like and as they graduate, Riviera is intending to bring some of those in-house so they wind up with jobs right after graduation and we\u2019re excited for that program to begin,\u201d said Daniel Kessler, COO of Riviera Creek Holdings.<\/p>\n

More Jobs Would Come with Adult-Use Legalization<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Although Ohio\u2019s cannabis industry is currently limited to serving medical marijuana patients, legislators and activists are currently working to legalize cannabis for all adults. In July, two Democratic state representatives from the Cleveland area introduced legislation<\/a> that would legalize, tax and regulate adult-use cannabis. A separate effort by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol was given approval to begin circulating petitions<\/a> by state officials last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s at the phase where it needs signatures,\u201d said Daniel Kessler, who supports the effort to legalize recreational cannabis. \u201cThe goal is to approve adult use over the age of 21.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniel Kessler said that Riviera Creek Holdings supports legal cannabis for adults as a way to replace the current system that forces consumers to accept untested and potentially unsafe cannabis while illicit cannabis operators face the threat of imprisonment.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of that becomes problematic for everybody,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we can replace that with something that generates tax dollars for the state, controlled by the legislative body, works much like the medical program, and has social justice aspects to it \u2013 it shouldn\u2019t be a partisan issue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Ohio nonprofit organization providing services for formerly incarcerated people has teamed up with a medical marijuana cultivator to develop a cannabis jobs training program for individuals with past  marijuana convictions. Dubbed URC Grows, the collaboration between United Returning Citizens and Youngstown, Ohio licensed growing operation Riviera Creek Holdings LLC aims to pair past cannabis offenders with industry jobs in the state\u2019s legal cannabis market. \u201cThis program will give [the past offenders] an opportunity to get back into the workforce,\u201d Brian Kessler, chairman of Riviera Creek Holdings, told The Business Journal. The new jobs program will be open to those… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}