16 8.29 w 37.8076167 n 122.2689694 w 37.8076167 ; 122.2689694 oaksterdam university founded oakland california u.s. 2007 2007 1 headquarters oakland california key people richard lee number of employees 23 website oaksterdamuniversity.com oaksterdam university is recognized as america s first cannabis college . located in oakland ca the educational facility and political institution was founded in november 2007 by medical marijuana activist richard lee to offer quality training for the cannabis industry with a mission to legitimize the business and work to change the law to make cannabis legal . 1 2 its main campus is located in the oaksterdam area of downtown oakland california . the university once had campuses in los angeles sebastopol and michigan . currently the only brick & mortar campus resides in oakland . as of recently the school has taken their world renowned program on the road conducting 2 to 4 day seminars in order to meet the demand for education . oaksterdam has conducted seminars in atlantic city denver las vegas washington d.c. and orlando fl with many more cities on the agenda . citation needed on april 2 2012 oaksterdam university was raided by the irs accompanied by the dea and us marshals service . 3 due to the city of oakland s support of the university the oakland police department was not informed of the raid . subsequently on the same day there was a shooting in a nearby school . as a result the oakland police dept. wasn t prepared to handle the numerous protestors which included city council members and respond to the shooting in time . oaksterdam university continued to put on classes less than 48 hours later . incorrect reports often cite that the event was conducted by the dea . although the university was only one of many businesses under the corporate umbrella subject to the investigation it was the oaksterdam university name that was mentioned in the news due to its on air and international recognition . no charges have been filed . richard lee retired dissolving his interest in his businesses paving the way for a new generation of leadership . citation needed contents 1 history 1.1 raid 2 curriculum and tuition 3 notable faculty 4 opposition 5 references 6 external links history edit activist richard lee was inspired to create oaksterdam university after visiting the cannabis college in amsterdam . lee recalled in november of 2006 i visited amsterdam and saw the cannabis college there . i ve seen in california that there are not enough good people who want to work in the cannabis industry in a professional way who want to pay taxes and obey regulations and help improve their community . i came back from amsterdam and the idea just popped into the back of my head ... 1 the university offered its first classes to 22 students in november 2007 . 1 as of november 2009 the university has thus far graduated nearly 25 000 students from over 30 countries . 2 a masked dea agent during the april 2nd raid raid edit this section needs expansion . you can help by adding to it . april 2012 on april 2 2012 oaksterdam university was raided by the irs accompanied by the dea and us marshals service . 3 the raid additionally targeted coffeeshop blue sky and the oaksterdam museum both affiliated with oaksterdam university . a number of the university s assets were seized including plants records computers and bank accounts . 4 after the raid oaksterdam university officials stated that they would immediately reopen . 5 founder richard lee said following the raid that he ll be giving up ownership of the organization citing mounting debt and concern for incurring federal charges . 4 6 7 school officials continued to teach classes . the university has since graduated 25 000 students and continues to add more programs . . 6 curriculum and tuition edit the university s curriculum reaches all aspects of the medical marijuana industry from horticulture to legal issues politics history civics economics extracts topical applications business management dispensary management delivery business cooking with cannabis and much more . 8 9 tuition ranges between 35 and 45 per credit hour . the school has 2 main programs the classic curriculum is a more comprehensive track that teaches you everything about the industry and the horticulture track which teaches you everything about growing cannabis . each program can be taken in either 14 week semesters offered in the summer spring and fall or every other weekend in fast track seminar format . seminars are 2 to 4 days conducted on weekends which include lessons and lectures on politics legal issues horticulture as well as business management . the 14 week classic semester schedule is offered for 1195 while the 14 week horticulture semester and hands on labs goes for 1495 . seminars are a few hundred dollars less . oaksterdam university recently offered a cme and cne course in orlando fl where physicians and nurses received continuing education credits . the activity was approved for ama pra category 1 credits . 1 10 notable faculty edit dr. aseem sappal provost and dean of faculty for oaksterdam university ed rosenthal renowned author of books on cannabis horticulture dale sky jones executive chancellor of oaksterdam university chairwoman of the coalition for cannabis policy reform richard lee founder of oaksterdam university proponent of california s proposition 19 2010 jeff jones activist co founder of the oakland cannabis buyers club and founder of oakland s patient id center chris conrad renowned author of cannabis history and industrial hemp opposition edit opposition to the university has been shown by the drug enforcement administration which claims the school sends the wrong message in the country s fight against drugs and promotes criminal activity . 10 opinion has since changed . more doctors including u.s. surgeon general vivek murthy said that marijuana can be helpful retired dea administrative law judge francis l. young stated the evidence in this record 9 6 88 ruling clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people and doing so with safety under medical supervision . it would be unreasonable arbitrary and capricious for dea to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record . the ongoing legal risk to the university has also recently shifted in light of new federal guidance released by the cole memo on august 29 2013 which de emphasized federal prosecutions of cannabis businesses in states which had legalized the drug for medical or other adult use . references edit a b c d e whiting sam april 6 2008 . richard lee s oaksterdam u will teach you all you need to know about the weed business . san francisco chronicle . retrieved december 1 2009 . a b klein karen november 10 2009 . the medical marijuana business matures . businessweek . mcgraw hill . pp. 1 2 . retrieved december 1 2009 . a b kuruvila matthai april 2 2012 . feds raid downtown oakland pot school . san francisco chronicle . retrieved april 2 2012 . a b l.a. now . los angeles times . boghani priyanka 3 april 2012 . oaksterdam university medical marijuana school raided by feds . global post . retrieved 3 april 2012 . a b http www.mercurynews.com breaking news ci 20345101 oaksterdam founder leave cannabis business http www.csmonitor.com usa society 2012 0406 setback for legal marijuana pot raid rattles top cannabis crusader berton justin april 21 2008 . marijuana 101 school teaches ins outs of pot . san francisco chronicle . retrieved december 1 2009 . school offers classes on cooking with pot . npr . retrieved 2011 04 20 . a b ioffee karina june 4 2008 . marijuana university offers higher education . the sydney morning herald . fairfax media . retrieved december 1 2009 . external links edit official site retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title oaksterdam university & oldid 736322702 categories education in oakland californiauniversities and colleges in alameda county californiaeducational institutions established in 2007for profit universities and colleges in the united statesmedicinal use of cannabis organizations based in the united statesunaccredited institutions of higher learning in californiacannabis in californiahidden categories coordinates not on wikidataall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from december 2015articles to be expanded from april 2012all articles to be expandedarticles using small message boxes navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial 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