No matter where you stand on the issue, there is something very satisfying about seeing how much people can affect the world around them, and medical marijuana is a prime example of the public changing the law. Twenty years ago, Nancy Reagan and D.A.R.E. were the leaders of marijuana “education.” This education, however, resulted in the incarceration of millions for minor drug offenses over the next two decades. But now, the U.S. has its first college devoted to the history and agriculture of that little bud with all the controversy.

MedGrow Cannabis College in Michigan is the first medical marijuana trade school to open its doors within the United States, but outside the walls of this institution exists a world that is confused and frightened by its purpose. Though medical marijuana is legal within the state, and the college only aims to help students find success within the booming medical marijuana industry, there has been some controversy over its legitimacy, and the pros and cons of medical marijuana.

The school wants its graduates to help revitalize the parts of the local economy which have not yet been able to pick themselves back up. Still, some stigmatize the program because of unending debate regarding the medical benefits of marijuana.

In a recent New York Times article about the school, students would not allow their names to be written down or their photographs to be taken because of the grey areas within the new law.

But education is not something anyone should be afraid of. This program consists of a series of biology, agriculture, history, cooking and chemistry courses surrounding a plant and the culture that has nourished it. The college and the legalization of cannabis provide an honest education to anyone willing to enroll or listen and benefit both the state and the people financially as well as medically.

The school charges a modest fee of $485 for a six-week primer and when the student emerges, they’re ready to take on the responsibilities of being a “caregiver” under Michigan state law. They could also go through the proper channels and open up their own dispensary and sell marijuana to those with a prescription.

First, there is the money raised through the college, which is seeing a tremendous amount of business already. Then there is the money to be made as a caregiver – someone who grows and harvests plants for a few patients with valid prescriptions and sells the buds to them.

Then, in addition to providing those jobs, if anyone taking the course is looking to start a small business or move out-of-state to an area where medical marijuana is legal but caregivers are not, they can open up a dispensary for patients. Or if there is another service in the field they may want to provide, they could expand it into something else – like The Cannabis Cafe that just set up shop in Portland, Ore.

There are jobs, profits, small businesses, and even schools coming out of the medical marijuana movement – sure, it may not be a cure for the financial blues, but it is an indisputable boost to a local economy and the spirits of anyone open enough to recognize and experience the bud for what it is. So this raises the question: what is so wrong about something so right?