Oakland has taken a big hit from the recent economic crisis. Now medical marijuana dispensaries want to help ease that burden with an offer to be more highly taxed.

Bad puns aside, the proposed Measure F in Oakland would raise the taxes on medical marijuana dispensaries in Oakland from $1.20 per $1000 of revenue to $18 per $1000. The measure will be voted on in Oakland on Tuesday and was actually proposed by the marijuana dispensaries themselves. So why would the medical marijuana community want to be taxed so much higher?

“We want to form a partnership with the city,” said Salwa Ibrahim, executive assistant for Oaksterdam University. The university itself is not a medical marijuana dispensary. Instead, the institution holds classes training students to grow and even bake marijuana. Classes are open to students 18 and older and cost about $500 a semester.