While the decriminalization of marijuana remains a hotly-contested issue across North America, California, where pot is legal for medical use, is one step ahead in the debate, pushing for a broader use of the hemp plant and turning smoking weed into an academic subject.
At Oaksterdam University, a private trade institution in the city of Oakland, about 13 kilometres east of San Francisco, students can delve into everything from dispensary operations and patient care, horticulture and ingestion methods, to marijuana economics, politics, history and law. The tuition fee for basic seminars goes for $250 US while advanced classes, such as indoor horticulture, cost $650 US. A classic 32-hour semester lasts 13 weeks.
“If you are applying for a job at a dispensary, our hope is that our certification program will give you the advantage in the selection process over someone who has not received certification,” claims the university website's FAQ section in describing the benefits of earning a certification from their trade school. “Certification shows that you have taken all of our courses and have proved that you have met our standards of knowledge in the cannabis industry.”
The Napa Valley Marijuana School a First of its Kind in the U.S.
Initially a small institution of 20 students, the nation’s first marijuana school has expanded to accommodate hundreds of future pot merchants at its four campuses in Oakland, Los Angeles, North Bay and Michigan.
The school spun out of California’s marijuana legalization movement. Most of the school’s instructors were involved in the drafting of Proposition 215, or the 1996 Compassionate Use Act, and Measure Z, a city tax levied on marijuana dispensaries to boost local revenue.
What’s more, the school’s founder and a pro-pot advocate, Richard Lee, is pushing for a bill, set to be put to a vote in November, which would turn the euphoria-inducing drug into a fully legal, taxable commodity. Under the proposed law, any Californian over the age of 21 could grow or possess up to an ounce of marijuana for personal use.
Oaksterdam University is located in downtown Oakland, a hub of medical marijuana activity commonly known as “Oaksterdam.” “Amsterdam is our model city. When I go there I see tourists and jobs and taxes being created from the cannabis industry and I think we can do that here,” Lee told Richard Gonzales of NPR.
“We are like other businesses […] We’re here to pay taxes, create jobs and improve the community,” continued Lee, who built a multimillion-dollar empire on medical marijuana and also owns a dispensary, a cannabis nursery, two coffee shops and a gift shop.
Marijuana Legalization Slammed
At the other end of the debate, critics insist the passage of the bill would do more harm than good. Law-enforcement agencies say the push to legalize the narcotic drug for personal use would only create more addicts and increase crime as well as public safety and health costs.
They are also warning California is gambling billions in federal money since legal marijuana would break federal workplace safety laws.
Diodora Bucur - Diodora’s professional credentials include published work with The Globe and Mail, CBC News and the Canadian Press, in addition to ...
