Is a marijuana major next?

In the 1960s when marijuana was in its infancy as a north coast cash crop, some students at what was then known as Humboldt State College took to calling their school "Roll-Your-Own-U."

It seemed appropriate then. It seems more appropriate now, with the announcement of the Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research at Humboldt State University.

Where else would you put such a center, CSU Dominguez Hills?

That's a sentiment echoed by economist Erick Eschker, who is co-chairing the Humboldt institute.

"If anyone is going to have a marijuana institute, it really should be Humboldt State," Eschker told the Eureka Times-Standard newspaper.

The idea for the institute started about two years ago when California voters were asked to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana. Proposition 19 was rejected by a 62-38 percent margin but that didn't stop the wheels from turning at HSU.

Likely the idea really gained traction from the Nov. 6 election when Washington and Colorado voters legalized the recreational use of marijuana.

Now people are talking.

Unfortunately, according to sociologist Josh Meisel, who is leading the Humboldt enterprise with Eschker, "With these public discussions, there were a lot more questions than there were answers."

The institute hopes to answer some of them, including the connection between marijuana production and employment in Humboldt County.

Pot production there is believed to be far and away the county's biggest agricultural commodity, its legality in state and federal law notwithstanding.

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