Richard Lee founded Oaksterdam University in 2007 to train students for careers in the cannabis industry. He died at age 62 on July 27 in Houston after a battle with cancer. Lee financed and spearheaded California's Proposition 19 in 2010, an early modern-era effort to legalize cannabis for adults over 21, which failed narrowly but helped catalyze successful 2012 ballot initiatives in Colorado and Washington and broader legislative change. His efforts pressured California to pass Senate Bill 1449, which decriminalized cannabis statewide and sharply reduced possession arrests. Lee left the university after a 2012 DEA raid; no charges were filed.
Lee is best known as the founder of the world's first cannabis training school, Oaksterdam University, and for financing and spearheading California's Proposition 19 in 2010, the first attempt to legalize cannabis for all adults over 21 in the modern era. Although the ballot measure failed by a slim margin, the election led to successful initiatives in 2012 in Colorado and Washington, setting off a wave of legislative change throughout the United States.
I've been doing this over 20 years, so I think I've done my duty. I think I've done my time on the front lines and others can take over," he said. He said he is not giving up the fight to legalize marijuana. "Well, I'm not leaving the fight. I'm going to still be campaigning more than ever for legislation, maybe going to Washington and Colorado that both have legalization on the ballot this year," he said.
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