Latest news with #Amsterdam-style
Boston Globe
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Richard Lee, activist who founded a pot ‘university,' dies at 62
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Cannabis became his salvation -- and his life's mission. Advertisement In 2010, the low-key Mr. Lee turned into a national face of the legalization movement when he spent more than $1.3 million of his own money -- earned from running a wide array of cannabis-related businesses in Oakland -- to spearhead California's Proposition 19, a trailblazing statewide effort to legalize cannabis for adult use. The measure failed, but it earned 46.5 percent of the vote, setting the stage for successful initiatives in Colorado and Washington two years later, Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in an interview. Twenty-two more states enacted similar laws in the ensuing years, including California in 2016. Advertisement With cannabis now legally regulated for either medical purposes or adult use in 40 states, the product might strike some -- at least those who know their indica from their sativa -- as rather mainstream. But for most of Mr. Lee's career, it was anything but. He routinely began staff meetings by reminding those who worked for him that they could be raided and arrested at any moment, and commending them for their courage. 'Richard was engaging in this sort of activism in a climate that was in many ways hostile to what he was doing and to his ideas,' Armentano said. 'And I think that sometimes is forgotten. Richard Lee, for lack of a better term, was engaging in civil disobedience.' He was a successful entrepreneur, but colleagues said his motives went far beyond profit. 'Richard firmly believed this war on drugs was a war on all of us,' Jones said in an interview. 'Marijuana prohibition had completely failed, and cops were distracted going after the smell of a joint instead of going after violent crime, like a carjacking Richard once suffered in Houston.' Outlawing cannabis also allowed a criminal underground to flourish off its trade, Mr. Lee argued. 'I mean, come on,' he said in a 2010 interview with Tad Friend of The New Yorker. 'Didn't Prohibition help Al Capone?' He eventually built a microempire of pot in a formerly desolate swath of downtown Oakland, which to the initiated began to take on the vibe of Europe's Elysian Fields of weed. 'Amsterdam is our model city,' he said in a 2010 interview with NPR, which bestowed on him his 'Appleseed' nickname. 'When I go there, I see tourists and jobs and taxes being created from the cannabis industry, and I think we can do that here.' Advertisement Over the years, he operated two Amsterdam-style coffee shop dispensaries in the neighborhood, Bulldog Coffeeshop and Coffeeshop Blue Sky; a gift shop that grew cannabis in the back; a pot-themed museum; and a cannabis-themed newspaper, The Oaksterdam News. The centerpiece of this smoker's-paradise neighborhood was Oaksterdam University, housed for years in a 30,000-square-foot former charter school, with branches in Los Angeles, Michigan, and Sonoma County, north of San Francisco. The school, which has been largely online since the pandemic, offers coursework in all manner of careers in cannabis, whether for prospective startup founders or 'budtenders,' as dispensary workers are known. To Mr. Lee, cannabis was serious business and should be treated as such. 'We tell our students that you want to avoid the idea of being a typical stoner who just gets high and throws the Frisbee,' he told The New Yorker. Richard Seib Lee was born Oct. 7, 1962, in Houston, the fourth of five sons of Robert Lee, who ran a members-only library for tax lawyers and accountants, and Anne (Edwards) Lee, a teacher. He grew up in a conservative household -- his parents were Goldwater Republicans -- in a state long known for its severe marijuana laws. That is not to say that the young Lee did not inhale. 'He was a head,' his brother Donald recalled in an interview. Richard Lee studied communications at the University of Houston but left to work in concert production, which indirectly led him to his ultimate career. 'I fell into it, right?' he joked to The New Yorker. Advertisement Despite the frigid climate for marijuana in his home state, Mr. Lee by the mid-1990s was growing cannabis in Texas and shipping it to an organization called the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, which served medical patients. He moved to Oakland in 1997. His many operations in the city eventually helped finance the push for Proposition 19, a state initiative with national implications. 'We became the campaign heard around the world,' Jones said. But the national attention, she added, might also have made them a target. On April 2, 2012, federal agents descended on the Oaksterdam campus, as well as Mr. Lee's other businesses and his apartment, seizing countless items, including student records and tens of thousands of plants growing in the school's basement. The raid made headlines nationally. But he never faced any charges -- nor, despite years of trying, did he ever learn why the raid took place, Jones said. Records remain sealed. Still, the timing seemed suspicious. At the time, the Oaksterdam team was working to apply its Proposition 19 playbook to the upcoming Washington and Colorado measures. In the team's view, the raid was probably a scare tactic, Jones said. Regardless, Mr. Lee feared future legal jeopardy, so he retired from all of his ventures and ultimately returned to Houston, where he had been caring for his ailing mother in recent years. In addition to his mother and his brother Donald, Mr. Lee leaves two other brothers, Michael and Robert. As a restless entrepreneur and avid cannabis champion, Mr. Lee learned to strike a balance in life. 'You've got to be a hard, cold Republican in business,' he said. 'But sometimes, even in business, it's good to just mellow out.' Advertisement This article originally appeared in
Scottish Sun
25-04-2025
- General
- Scottish Sun
Futuristic British cities with ‘edible houses' and AI governments – here's how your hometown could change in 100 years
Stephen Oram, author of We Are Not Anonymous, describes a village but on a city scale - where food is locally grown and produced and there's "vital services" within walking distance CITY DWELLERS Futuristic British cities with 'edible houses' and AI governments – here's how your hometown could change in 100 years IN 100 years, future cities in the UK are unlikely to have flying cars and highways in the sky. But they might flip the script on today's hometowns - where rental hoppers never really know their neighbours, where food is pricey and rarely homegrown, and it's hard work to get a GP appointment. 6 Oram paints a fairly utopic picture of "city villages" Credit: Getty 6 Stephen Oram, author of We Are Not Anonymous, is an expert in what he calls "applied science fiction", using modern day trends to forecast the future. He works with scientists and technologists to explore the possible outcomes of their research - and where they might lead the world in future. Oram, who also worked in Whitehall for more than a decade, believes the most obvious change to cities is their population size. But considering today's falling birthrates, there will be fewer children. "It's pretty inevitable that cities are going to expand in terms of the number of people that they're accommodating," he says. The World Economic Forum revealed in 2022 that being in overcrowded environments increases loneliness by up to 38%. "I think as individuals we feel isolated," says Oram, which he says could prompt a shift in living styles over the next century towards a fairly utopic "city village". Oram describes a village but on a city scale - where food is locally grown and produced and there's "vital services" within walking distance. Although, there are perhaps fewer curtain-twitching neighbours. Inside plans for futuristic $400bn US desert mega city 'Telosa' to rival NEOM with 15min commutes & farms on skyscrapers It resembles the idea of 'green cities', concepts which are becoming increasingly attractive around the world. "Edible houses" may begin to crop up, continues Oram, where you are "growing your food in the building you're living in." If we managed to move to driverless cars, then I think individual car ownership could disappear, particularly in cities. Stephen Oram And there would likely be an Amsterdam-style effort to pedestrianise areas that were previously only available to people riding on four wheels. 6 These trees could bare the fruits of "edible city" initiatives emerging today Credit: Getty "If we managed to move to driverless cars, then I think individual car ownership could disappear, particularly in cities," he says. "You move to a situation where you've got driverless taxis, [and] a bit like airplanes, they're always on the go. "That means you've reduced the amount of on-road parking, which then means you can have more trees." These trees could bear the fruits of "edible city" initiatives emerging today. London and Leeds already have plans in place to plant more fruit trees in an effort to create more green spaces and increase access to fresh fruit. I think it's more likely that you would move to a mix of human and AI running things... So you kind of augment humans rather than hand something over totally. Stephen Oram But Oram doesn't paint a purely pastoral picture. He, like many other experts, believe humans and technology will become even more integrated than they are today. Even in Parliament, local councils, and courtrooms. 6 Removing human bias from courts could automate the justice system, says Oram - and leave court backlogs long in the past Credit: Getty AI-run governments are "definitely possible", says Oram, who previously headed policy for post-16 skills strategic development and innovation at the Department for Education. Though we won't see a full robo-takeover in government. "I think it's more likely that you would move to a mix of human and AI running things," he explains. "So you kind of augment humans rather than hand something over totally." In some positions, bots may become more common than humans - largely because they will be cheaper, says Oram, but also because they may be more objective. Oram envisions two layers of policing: the automated and the human. "I call them the bot police," he says. "Out on the streets, they're very present." He continues: "And then you've got the really expensive human police that are sitting in the background." Removing human bias from courts could automate the justice system, says Oram - and leave court backlogs long in the past. 6 Digital twin cities are created using data from sensors, models, and simulations Credit: Getty It's "fairly inevitable" too that each city would have a digital twin - a virtual replica of a real city, according to Oram. Digital twins are created using data from sensors, models, and simulations. They allow hawk-eyed monitoring and control of urban systems in real-time - from traffic lights to water allowances. And eventually, each citizen might have a digital twin, to ensure their bodily processes are running as smoothly as possible. "You could see a situation where your clothes are behaving in the way that current wearable health monitoring stuff does," explains Oram. "Which means some robot delivery system turns up with some medication you didn't know you needed."
The Irish Sun
25-04-2025
- The Irish Sun
Futuristic British cities with ‘edible houses' and AI governments – here's how your hometown could change in 100 years
IN 100 years, future cities in the UK are unlikely to have flying cars and highways in the sky. But they might flip the script on today's hometowns - where rental hoppers never really know their neighbours, where food is pricey and rarely homegrown, and it's hard work to get a GP appointment. 6 Oram paints a fairly utopic picture of "city villages" Credit: Getty 6 Stephen Oram, author of We Are Not Anonymous, is an expert in what he calls "applied science fiction", using modern day trends to forecast the future. He works with scientists and technologists to explore the possible outcomes of their research - and where they might lead the world in future. Oram, who also worked in Whitehall for more than a decade, believes the most obvious change to cities is their population size. But considering today's falling birthrates, there will be fewer children. READ MORE ON FUTURE TECH "It's pretty inevitable that cities are going to expand in terms of the number of people that they're accommodating," he says. The World Economic Forum revealed in 2022 that being in overcrowded environments increases loneliness by up to 38%. "I think as individuals we feel isolated," says Oram, which he says could prompt a shift in living styles over the next century towards a fairly utopic "city village". Oram describes a village but on a city scale - where food is locally grown and produced and there's "vital services" within walking distance. Most read in Tech Although, there are perhaps fewer curtain-twitching neighbours. Inside plans for futuristic $400bn US desert mega city 'Telosa' to rival NEOM with 15min commutes & farms on skyscrapers It resembles the idea of 'green cities', concepts which are becoming increasingly attractive around the world. "Edible houses" may begin to crop up, continues Oram, where you are "growing your food in the building you're living in." If we managed to move to driverless cars, then I think individual car ownership could disappear, particularly in cities. Stephen Oram And there would likely be an Amsterdam-style effort to pedestrianise areas that were previously only available to people riding on four wheels. 6 These trees could bare the fruits of "edible city" initiatives emerging today Credit: Getty "If we managed to move to "You move to a situation where you've got driverless taxis, [and] a bit like airplanes, they're always on the go. "That means you've reduced the amount of on-road parking, which then means you can have more trees." These trees could bear the fruits of "edible city" initiatives emerging today. London and Leeds already have plans in place to plant more fruit trees in an effort to create more green spaces and increase access to fresh fruit. I think it's more likely that you would move to a mix of human and AI running things... So you kind of augment humans rather than hand something over totally. Stephen Oram But Oram doesn't paint a purely pastoral picture. He, like many other experts, believe humans and technology will become even more integrated than they are today. Even in Parliament, local councils, and courtrooms. 6 Removing human bias from courts could automate the justice system, says Oram - and leave court backlogs long in the past Credit: Getty AI-run governments are "definitely possible", says Oram, who previously headed policy for post-16 skills strategic development and innovation at the Department for Education. Though we won't see a full robo-takeover in government. "I think it's more likely that you would move to a mix of human and AI running things," he explains. "So you kind of augment humans rather than hand something over totally." In some positions, bots may become more common than humans - largely because they will be cheaper, says Oram, but also because they may be more objective. Oram envisions two layers of policing: the automated and the human. "I call them the bot police," he says. "Out on the streets, they're very present." He continues: "And then you've got the really expensive human police that are sitting in the background." Removing human bias from courts could automate the justice system, says Oram - and leave court backlogs long in the past. 6 Digital twin cities are created using data from sensors, models, and simulations Credit: Getty It's "fairly inevitable" too that each city would have a digital twin - a virtual replica of a real city, according to Oram. Digital twins are created using data from sensors, models, and simulations. They allow hawk-eyed monitoring and control of urban systems in real-time - from traffic lights to water allowances. And eventually, each citizen might have a digital twin, to ensure their bodily processes are running as smoothly as possible. "You could see a situation where your clothes are behaving in the way that current wearable health monitoring stuff does," explains Oram. "Which means some robot delivery system turns up with some medication you didn't know you needed." 6 Medication you didn't even know you needed could be delivered straight to your door Credit: Getty
