OAKLAND: Cannabis College Redefines ‘Higher Education’
Oaksterdam University's new campus is a three-story, 30,000-square-foot building where it can enroll up to 100 students in its three-month course. Credit: Dale Clare
It seemed like a typical grand opening. The president of Oaksterdam University and an Oakland City Council member helped cut a red ribbon strung across the doorway. A crowd of 100 people clapped and cheered.
The city council member, Rebecca Kaplan, praised the school for helping revive the neighborhood, stimulating the local economy and attracting people to downtown Oakland.
"This is a large, growing and thriving business," she told the crowd at the celebration Thursday evening. "It is bringing customers for all the other businesses. It is a key part of the growth and revitalization of the entire neighborhood."
But this is no ordinary university. It trains students to work in California's booming medical marijuana business. Its mission is to build support for the movement to legalize cannabis.
The college has expanded so quickly since it opened in 2007 that it outgrew its two previous spaces. Its new campus is a three-story, 30,000-square-foot building where it can enroll up to 100 students in its three-month course.
Some Medical Marijuana Millionaires Are Turning to Philanthropy
Richard Lee, left, owner of the Blue Sky Shop/dispensary, teaching Chris McCatheran about medical marijuana plants. Credit: Peter Dasilva/European Pressphoto Agency
The popularity of pot clubs in the Bay Area has led to a burgeoning crop of medical marijuana millionaires. Call them the ganja riche. Like many of their nouveaux predecessors, they are trying to figure out what to do with their cash.
Some are giving to charity, but you will not see any fanfare or buildings named in their honor. Medicinal marijuana remains a legal gray area, and nothing — even philanthropy — is simple when it comes to the proceeds. Oakland’s medical marijuana headquarters, Oaksterdam University, could not even sponsor a local food bank.
“They refused our sponsorship because of other money they get from the federal government,” said Richard Lee, founder of Oaksterdam.
While marijuana money and munchies might sound like the perfect fit, the food bank worried that such a partnership would have put the federal dollars it receives in jeopardy.
“We appreciated the offer from Oaksterdam and gave it due consideration,” said Brian Higgins, the food bank’s spokesman. “In the end, it was not worth the risk.”
The sense of legal uncertainty is created by the maze of laws surrounding medical marijuana. California voters approved it, but it remains a federal crime.
Oaksterdam University: One Small Soldier in a Big War
Credit: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t
Richard Lee rolls down the street in his wheelchair, popping in on any number of his businesses located in the "Oaksterdam district" of downtown Oakland, California. Once known for the wild finishes of its roughhouse Raiders, the city has quietly evolved into the Amsterdam of America. And Mr. Lee is spearheading the charge.
Lee is president of Oaksterdam University, the country's first "cannabis college," and a leading voice behind the statewide ballot measure The Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. If his hunch is correct (and polling data bears him out), California may become the first state to legalize marijuana.
