Die Erste Cannabis-Universität der Welt: Oaksterdam University
With alumni around the world, Oaksterdam University is thrilled to be included in the September 2023 issue of THCENE, a Berlin-based magazine about cannabis culture. The four-page feature Q&A with Oaksterdam University Chancellor Dale Sky Jones begins:
“With the USA still considered the “land of opportunity,” it is not surprising that the world’s first cannabis university was founded here. Cannabis has been studied in Oakland since 2007 – from its cultivation and medical use to the details of corporate governance. We spoke to the head of the university, Dale Sky Jones, among others. About the past, present and future of Oaksterdam University …”
Here’s an excerpt of the last question in the interview with Managing Editor Dennis Lindner:
THCENE: Germany has announced that it will decriminalize the recreational adult use of cannabis and allow people to grow up to 3 plants, cannabis social clubs, and the possession of up to 25 gram of dried flower. What’s your opinion on this development?
Dale: I am extremely proud to say that I feel like Oaksterdam is an instrumental part of Germany’s adult use legalization effort. In September 2022, the German Federal Health Committee delegation visited Oaksterdam to learn how we’ve approached legalization and consider our recommendations for policy reform. I was honored to organize and present with a group of key stakeholders including City of Oakland representatives, and welcoming them at City Hall. We also focused on sustainability and reasonable regulations like home grow, because the five political parties in the delegation could have gone uber restrictive, and I feel we changed their hearts and minds to view cannabis as a safer alternative in their community than alcohol and to choose evidence-based community health and safety over the fear and stigma perpetrated under the failed policy of prohibition. I was so pleased to see the first legalization steps for Germany. Moments like this are my hit of hope!
