Oakland Cannabis Equity Public Awareness Campaign

About the Campaign 

The Oakland Legendary Cannabis Awareness Campaign is a three-year campaign sponsored by the City of Oakland and produced by Oaksterdam University that distinguishes and promotes Oakland’s social equity cannabis business operators statewide through a distinctive certification mark on product packaging and a targeted public relations campaign.

The campaign began in 2025 and will last through June of 2028. Social equity operators receive the following promotional services:

  • Free marketing and promotion
  • A custom brand kit with photos, bios, and your story
  • Articles that feature equity brands in media outlets
  • Interviews, shoutouts, and event features
  • Inclusion in a city-certified mark that helps consumers find equity products
There are two versions of the certification mark that can appear on equity operators’ packaging, PR, and marketing:

Background

In the Spring of 2017, the Oakland City Council created the nation’s first cannabis equity program to address disparities in the cannabis industry by prioritizing the victims of the War on Drugs and minimizing barriers to entry into the industry. However, despite local and state efforts to support equity-owned cannabis businesses, the general public is largely unaware of them, and a significant gap remains between equity and non-equity products available at dispensaries.

Accordingly, in June 2023, the Oakland City Council approved Resolution No. 89791 to allocate up to $225,000 over five years (July 1, 2023–July 1, 2028) from the Proposition 64 Public Health and Safety Grant Program Cohort Three to a public awareness campaign.

The City of Oakland contracted Oaksterdam University in mid-2025 to design and implement a comprehensive marketing strategy to promote the support of Oakland equity-owned businesses. Oaksterdam is uniquely positioned to implement this campaign due to its unique history and significance in the local and global cannabis industry, as cannabis legalization was born in Oakland at Oaksterdam University.

Focus and Messaging

Oaksterdam is uplifting Oakland’s equity operators by associating them with the quality and legendary role that the City’s legacy operators have played in bringing about global legalization.

Oakland is undeniably the global epicenter of the legal cannabis industry. Oakland advocates spearheaded the world’s first medical cannabis legalization legalization laws. Oakland’s cannabis business owners pioneered the modern above-ground marketplace and the City of Oakland was the first government to license and regulate these businesses, and the first government to create a social equity program. Today’s Oakland equity operators continue this legacy and culture of pioneering quality cannabis and social change.

About Oakland’s Social Equity Program and Operators

The City’s groundbreaking Equity Permit Program is designed to minimize barriers to cannabis licensing for those who have been the most victimized by the War on Drugs. The City of Oakland qualifies operators as social equity through the following criteria:

  1. Is an Oakland resident, and
  2. Has an annual income at or less than 80% of the city’s average median income adjusted for household size, or
  3. Has lived in any combination of specific Oakland policy beats for at least 10 of the last 20 years, or
  4. Was arrested after November 5, 1996 and convicted of a cannabis crime in Oakland.

Oakland social equity operators qualify for loans and other financial support, technical assistance with their business, education, and other city-backed support, including this public awareness and marketing campaign.

Discover Legendary Oakland Equity Cannabis

Get involved by filling out the Consumer Awareness Survey.

Consumer Survey

Get updates about the Legendary Mark, featured equity brands, and how to support the campaign nationwide.

Email Updates
Look for the Legendary certification mark on specially marked products, purchase and enjoy knowing you’re supporting an Oakland social equity cannabis business.