Global Ganja Report

California's Oaksterdam University has announced the passing of its founder and longtime activist Richard Lee. As an entrepreneur, Lee opened some of the first Amsterdam-style cannabis coffeeshops in the United States, years before statewide legalization in California—the Blue Sky Coffeeshop and Bulldog Coffeeshop, both in an area near downtown Oakland that became known as "Oaksterdam " He founded Oaksterdam University in 2007, the first brick-and-mortar establishment to offer in-person educational training to those seeking to enter the cannabis industry. The University has graduated over 110,000 students.

Long wheelchair-bound following a work-related accident in 1990, Lee first came to cannabis as a medicinal user. He went on to become one of the Golden State's most passionate and tireless advocates for the plant.

Lee spearheaded (and underwrote) the Proposition 19 legalization initiative in California in 2010. The grassroots effort received more than 3.4 million votes and broke ground for the passage of the first-ever successful state legalization initiatives in Colorado and Washington two years later. (California ultimately legalized the adult-use cannabis market with the passage of another ballot initiative, Proposition 64, in 2016.)

Following a federal raid of Blue Sky and Oaksterdam in 2012, Richard named executive chancellor Dale Sky Jones as head of the university. No charges were filed against Lee, and Oaksterdam University defiantly re-opened its doors days later.

"Thanks to Richard Lee, opportunities have opened up for so many people," Jones posted on the Oaksterdam website. "Richard’s vision brought new jobs, new businesses, new protection for patients, and allowed for new lives with dignity where once there was only stigma and punishment."

She added: "Richard's courage to fight when it wasn’t easy, when it wasn't safe, and when few others dared, led to a domino effect of global change that we are still witnessing today. He didn't wait for the system to catch up; he worked relentlessly to make it right. His legacy is one of freedom for individuals, freedom for communities, and freedom for families who can now thrive without the shadow of an unjust system hanging over them."

NORML's deputy director Paul Armentano, who served on Oaksterdam's faculty for over a decade, echoed Jones’ sentiments: "Richard Lee was a generous and courageous man—generous with his time and courageous by his actions. His contributions to the movement are immense; yet, he always remained humble. He spoke softly yet his actions carried tremendous weight. There are few people who have single-handedly advanced our cause as much as Richard Lee. His contributions and his legacy will not be forgotten."

Photo: NORML

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