[420 Girl]

The head of a trade school for the cannabis industry said Wednesday that he hopes the victory of an Oakland measure that creates a business license tax for cannabis businesses will build momentum for a statewide measure to legalize the recreational use and taxation of pot.

Richard Lee, the president of Oaksterdam University, which was founded in 2007, said an initiative he plans to file with state officials on Thursday would make possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults legal throughout California.

Lee said it would also give cities and counties the option of allowing the cultivation, sale and taxation of marijuana within their borders.

In a mail-in election that ended on Tuesday, nearly 80 percent of Oakland residents who participated approved Measure F, which makes Oakland the first city in the nation to establish a special tax rate for cannabis businesses.

The measure taxes gross receipts of all cannabis businesses at 1.8 percent.

City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, who helped sponsor the measure, said she hopes it will generate up to $1 million a year for Oakland's general fund.

Kaplan said the passage of Measure F and three other funding-relates measures that were on the ballot is "great news."

Lee and other overseers of medical marijuana dispensaries supported the measure as a step in having them become perceived as more mainstream and legitimate.

Lee said paying the new business tax "is a lot better than being arrested and put in prison."

He said, "It's cheaper to pay the tax than it is to pay lawyers."

Lee said TaxCannabis2010.org plans to start collecting signatures for the statewide initiative in September, after state officials have reviewed its title and summaries.

He said the group plans to turn in its signatures in January and place it on the ballot in November 2010.

Lee said legalizing the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults would make the drug "like alcohol" in the eyes of the law.

Oaksterdam University gets its name from the so-called "Oaksterdam" district in downtown Oakland where several medical marijuana dispensaries are located.

The Oaksterdam district earned its nickname for its similarities to Amsterdam, the Dutch city known for its legal marijuana clubs.

Oaksterdam University, which is described on its Web site as America's first cannabis college, is located at 1776 Broadway. It provides training for the cannabis industry.

The school also has campuses in Los Angeles, Sebastopol and Ann Arbor, Mich.

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