Pubdate: Fri, 04 Dec 2009
Source: Flint Journal (MI)
Copyright: 2009 Flint Journal
Contact: http://www.mlive.com/mailforms/fljournal/letters/
Website: http://www.mlive.com/flint/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/836
Author: Liz Shaw
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

GENESEE COUNTY RESIDENT ON FACULTY OF NEW MED GROW CANNABIS COLLEGE IN
SOUTHFIELD

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- Perry Belcher might chuckle good-naturedly
at the tongue-in-cheek title "Professor of Pot" -- but the former
cameraman-turned-college instructor says his History of Cannabis
course is no joking matter. "Almost everything people think they know
about marijuana comes from decades of propaganda that has no basis in
viable medical information," said Belcher, a northern Genesee County
resident on the faculty at the newly opened Med Grow Cannabis College
in Southfield. "All that historical stigma is something we still have
to overcome even with the new laws legalizing medicinal use."

Touted as the first Michigan trade school dedicated to the medical
marijuana industry, Med Grow is helping green-thumbed entrepreneurs
carve out a career path in "one of the fastest growing recession proof
industries in the state," according to the Med Grow website, which
suggests that entry-level caregivers can earn $40,000-$100,000 a year,
based on typical market values and patient consumption rates.

It's a new economic growth area that's ripe for the picking, said
Belcher, noting that about 1,800 caregivers and 7,000 to 8,000
patients have registered with the state in the eight months since the
new medical marijuana law took effect.

"If anybody right now needs to get into supporting the caregiver
industry, it should be the Flint area. It just makes me sad there are
all these new economic opportunities out there but nobody's really
talking about it," said Belcher, 34.  "I predict this will result in
millions of dollars in new income, providing jobs for people who used
to do other things."

Belcher himself is a perfect example. A former television cameraman
and one of the first 500 patients in the state to obtain his patient
ID card, Belcher now earns a parttime living teaching the school's
history class. He's also using his media background to help promote
the college and improve marijuana's public image.

"I'm surprised the farming angle isn't being played up more. There are
no commercials on TV for medical marijuana. Everyone's going slow with
it because for years and years it's been equated with drugs and
criminal activity," said Belcher. "There's an element of caution with
people. Nobody wants to lose their home because they take a new job.
We have to get rid of that stigma."

Belcher admits feeling some of that anxiety himself, even worrying his
public advocacy could be embarrassing for his family.

"It feels too high profile but I believe it's the right thing to do,"
he said.

The college could help change all that by professionalizing the
industry, he said, increasing social acceptance and moving medical
marijuana into the mainstream.

"The doors just opened up in September and already one of the things
that's really impressed me is the wide array of students the college
has attracted," said Belcher. "We've had pastors, former GM people
looking for jobs, people who just like gardening and growing things.
It's been an incredibly broad spectrum and age range."

True to its role as a trade school, Med Grow is offering unemployment
discounts, scholarships and even travel packages for students outside
the Detroit area. The programs include a six-week night course for
$475 and individual seminars for $250.

The program has already had about 150 students, said MedGrow's dean
Nick Tennant, 24, who founded the school using funds from his own
automotive detailing business combined with venture capital from partners.

"It's very hard to predict the future. I don't really know where this
thing is going because politics play into it so heavily," said
Tennant. "But hopefully what we're providing to communities like Flint
and Detroit with their high unemployment rates is something new and
fresh that can help people get back on their feet."

The Rev. Bob  Liichow of Inner City AIDS Support Services in Detroit
plans to use his training to become a caregiver for some of the
HIV/AIDS patients he counsels.

"They gave us good training as well as a good way to network with
others trying to help those who are sick or terminally ill," said
Liichow, who was given a scholarship for the six-week course. "A lot
of things you can learn from books or on the Internet. What was most
valuable was the hands-on training we got, plus talking to people with
experience who can tell you firsthand things you're not going to find
out anywhere else."

Even so, cannabis farming isn't likely to become a major agriculture
industry under the current legal guidelines.

"The main challenge is you can only have up to five patients. Unlike
with a normal business, you can really only go so far. It's not
something that could necessarily grow exponentially," said criminal
defense attorney Paul C. Youngs, who teaches Med Grow's "Legal 1010"
class.

Prospective caregivers also need to understand there are still legal
gray areas, Youngs said, such as defining the "useable" amounts that a
caregiver can have on hand, and whether the law truly protects users'
rights at work or in custody battles.

"I always caution people that we don't really know how all that's
going to shake out in the courts, so you shouldn't behave in a
cavalier fashion, thinking the law will protect you," said Youngs.
"The limits have certainly not been tested yet. Those will be up to a
judge to decide when the test cases arise."

It's anyone's guess whether Med Grow's students will find the future
really is as bright as their high-pressure sodium grow lights -- but
even the school itself is proof the times, indeed, are changing.

"Medicinal cannabis is not likely to be the savior for Flint and Genesee 
County but it's a step in the right direction," said Belcher. "Even this 
program itself took some creativity and that's what it's going to take for 
Flint: People who are bold and brilliant and have a great idea in their mind."

"I think the school's going to do very well. They're not going to have
any trouble filling up classes," said Liichow. "It's an idea whose
time has come."

To contact the school: 888-MEDGROW. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D