Louisiana

Southern University Becomes First HBCU to Legally Market Marijuana

In partnership with Ilera Holistic Healthcare, the university launched ALAFIA last week, hoping to help destigmatize cannabis

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has entered the cannabis industry, making history as the first historically black college or university to join the legal marijuana business, NBC News reported.

In partnership with Ilera Holistic Healthcare, a medical marijuana company in Pennsylvania, the university launched its hemp product line, ALAFIA, last week. The name means “inner peace” in the Yoruba language, according to the team behind the product.

The product draws on the purported medical benefits of CBD, an active component of cannabis. ALAFIA’s researchers hope the partnership will provide students and residents of the state opportunities to learn about the benefits.

“Our overall goals are to continue providing experiential learning opportunities for our students who plan to enter into this rapidly evolving industry and to also provide education to the constituents of Louisiana in efforts to destigmatize this medical plant,” said the lead researcher, Janana Snowden, executive director of the university’s Southern Institute for Medicinal Plants.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com.

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