Oaksterdam, Oakland
Oaksterdam is a cultural district on the north end of Downtown Oakland, California, where medical cannabis is available for purchase in cafés, clubs, and patient dispensaries. Oaksterdam is located between downtown proper, the Lakeside, and the financial district. It is roughly bordered by 14th Street on the southwest, Harrison Street on the southeast, 19th Street on the northeast, and Telegraph Avenue on the northwest. The name is a portmanteau of "Oakland" and "Amsterdam," due to the Dutch city's cannabis coffee shops and the drug policy of the Netherlands.
Since 2005, cannabis has been available to patients with patient identification and physician recommendation at a busy dispensary in the neighborhood, one of Oakland's four officially licensed dispensaries under the current municipal ordinance. According to [California California Proposition 215 (1996)|Proposition 215 (1996)|Proposition 215], a statewide voter initiative which amended the California Health and Safety Code, marijuana used for medical purposes is legal to possess and cultivate. Dispensaries require a doctor's note in order to obtain medical cannabis, which is legal under California law, but still illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
History
The name Oaksterdam is a combination of Oakland and Amsterdam, the Dutch city that is famously tolerant towards cannabis use. The name was coined by the late Jim McClelland, an AIDS patient, who was a founding member of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club and the Berkeley Patients Group after prompting by Andrew Glazier, a fellow activist, that the neighborhood needed a name.The history of Oaksterdam started in 1996 with Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative distributing to Proposition 215 patients, and with the resulting legal wrangling. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative stayed open until federal authorities ordered the cooperative to shut down. A few OCBC members went around the corner and opened up The Zoo. Richard Lee founded Bulldog Coffee Shop in 1999 and Coffeeshop Blue Sky in 2003, naming them after cafes in Amsterdam, he envisioned a downtown Oakland revitalized by the support of his and other cannabis businesses. Lee founded Oaksterdam University in 2007.
California Attorney General Dan Lungren was opposed to Proposition 215. Dennis Peron was arrested and San Francisco's safe source of medical cannabis was shut down. The Oakland City Council made several proclamations, then designated a few patients as official medical cannabis officers, and approved the distribution of medical cannabis in accordance with Proposition 215. Oakland politicians were pro-cannabis before Proposition 215 and allowed a couple of groups to distribute. Federal authorities, however, continued to try to apply the law, despite Attorney General Eric Holder's instructions to U.S. attorneys in October 2009 that they "should not focus federal resources in your states on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana."
On April 2, 2012, the IRS raided Oaksterdam University. Nevertheless, Oaksterdam University continued to put on classes less than two days later. Incorrect reports often cite that the event was conducted by the DEA. No charges were filed. Harborside was threatened as well. Steve DeAngelo spoke out against the raids and the IRS threats and vowed to serve the patients. He reminded his followers about the patients locked up in jail. In DeAngelo's opinion, the DEA was systematically trying to destroy the medical cannabis community. In 2012, Melinda Haag, the DEA prosecutor, warned the city about dispensary closures. The IRS also took away the standard tax deduction, claiming that the medical cannabis community is a criminal enterprise.
Richard Lee dissolved his interest in his businesses.
Location and character
Oaksterdam is located on the north end of downtown Oakland, between downtown proper, the Lakeside and the Financial District. It is characterized by mixed-use office and residential buildings with buildings that are older than some of the modern skyscrapers south of 14th Street, and shops, restaurants and cafes.A Julia Morgan-designed building is located at the northwest corner of 15th and Webster Streets, which was the original location of the Oakland YWCA. The neighborhood also features the Cathedral Building, an ornate, historic Flatiron Building at Latham Square at the intersection of Broadway and Telegraph.