School teaches pot cultivation

OAKLAND, Calif., April 21 (UPI) -- A California man who started a school that teaches marijuana cultivation and care says the institution is aimed at preparing students to operate pot clubs.

Richard Lee said his school, Oaksterdam, is aimed at preparing prospective pot club owners for the task of operating the businesses, which sell marijuana and food items containing the plant to customers who have medical recommendations from their doctors, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday.

"We're doing this to show our cities we can be good neighbors," Lee told one of his classes. "That we've got nothing to hide. That we can run a business on the up-and-up, and it's nothing to fear."

Lee said the two-day course offered at Oaksterdam teaches students how to grow marijuana indoors as well as instruction on how to harvest and cook with the plant. He said students are also instructed by multiple lecturers on the complex legal issues involved with operating a pot club, which were made legal by California's Proposition 215 but remain illegal under federal law.