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Oaksterdam Offers Hands-On Horticulture Lessons To Cannabis Students

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Jeff Jones

"Grower," "entrepreneur" or "government official" are just a few of the titles held by students who seek out Oaksterdam University in Oakland, California to study cannabis. While it’s not an accredited university, many are attracted by Oaksterdam’s hands-on horticulture lab and product testing facility. The school typically has between 200-250 students enrolled in any given week for  semester-long classes and weekend seminars running from Saturday through Tuesday.

“We have graduated over 35,00 students from over 40 countries.,” Dr. Aseem Sappal, Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Oaksterdam University said.

While marijuana is a hearty plant and easy to grow, many facets contribute to maximizing the quality and yield of the plants. Oaksterdam's Grow Room instruction introduces students to the inputs and outputs of the system and the technologies that can help manage them. The school’s horticulture program is “in high demand and attended from students from all over the world.” according to Dr. Aseem Sappal, Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Oaksterdam University.

The “Classic Program” is also popular. It gives students an overview of the industry covering politics and history, legal issues, dispensary operations, science, extracts, cooking, economics, and other topics.

The student body has been changing over time.  “Ten years ago, a lot of our students were patients and entrepreneurs,” said Sappal, “The past two years we have seen a greater increase in government officials, state legislators and policy makers attending Oaksterdam.”

Oaksterdam is also a nickname for the city of Oakland, combining the words “Amsterdam” (where cannabis is legal) and “Oakland.”

The student group is quite diverse demographically as well said Sappal. Ages range from 18 to 88 years years old. 60% of the student body is from out of state and 10-15% are from out of country he said.  A range of people attend from professionals like physicians, attorneys, and researchers to high school graduates and college students.

J Jones

The school has been growing steadily. “Most all of our classes are sold out and our semesters are always wait listed,” he said. “There is a demand for quality education, from a reputable institution that will still be here in ten years.”

Recently the school put its horticulture program online to increase accessibility to students who don’t live nearby.

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