(Editor's note: This is the second piece in a six-part series on Oakland Local on the business of marijuana.)

After just two years, Oaksterdam University is an institutional heavy-weight, drawing hundreds of students from all over the United States to learn to cultivate marijuana and legally sell the plants. Forty-seven-year-old entrepreneur and Oaksterdam founder Richard Lee started the school after seeing the need for a disciplined, academic approach to cannabis cultivation, and also cannabis law and business. And in the process he wanted to legitimize the marijuana industry.

"This isn't your older brother growing a plant in the garage," said Oaksterdam spokesperson Greg Grimala. "This is a legitimate industry like any other. Everyone here is an entrepreneur."

(Editor's note: This is the third piece in a six-part series on Oakland Local on the business of marijuana.)

In the current economy, financial incentives alone are sufficiently enticing to make many people consider a career change. Though the initial cost of indoor lamps, wiring, fertilizer, soil and fans can add up, start-up costs pale in comparison with most small businesses. Depending on the size of the operation, growers can spend several hundred to several thousand dollars to create suitable conditions for healthy plants. Once operational, however, it costs as little as a couple hundred dollars per pound of premium product.