A Eulogy for “High Times”: Celebrating The Life Of A Foundational Cannabis Publication

High Times Magazine, the country’s preeminent cannabis publication known for its advocacy for legalization, bud centerfolds, and counterculture attitude, has died. It was 50.

Born in the summer of 1974, High Times was the brainchild of Thomas King Forcade, an anti-establishment leader and legendary cannabis smuggler. Very little is known about its conception— Sean Howe told Rolling Stone it was possibly dreamed up during a particularly epiphanic acid trip of Forcade’s— but its gestation, in a basement apartment on West 11th Street in New York City, has been well-documented. 

The Early Years

A group of writers, activists, anti-establishment leaders, and drug enthusiasts spent months living and working in that basement apartment to put together the first, 50-page issue. Forcade led the charge, with the magazine’s first editor-in-chief, Ed Dwyer, by his side. Cannabis activist Dana Beal, “Dylanologist” A. J. Weberman, journalist Deanne Stillman, and “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane” creator Rex Weiner, rounded out the rag-tag original crew.

That first issue had a range of stories, including an interview with a female dealer, an excerpt from a Timothy Leary novel, an old Daily Planet feature, a news section, and the famed “Trans-High Market Quotation,” a guide detailing the going rates of different strains of cannabis around the country. The magazine became an instant hit. Readers bought out the initial print run of 10,000 copies overnight, and demand remained so high that the publishers ordered two additional runs to keep up. A few issues later, readership topped half a million, clearly signaling that the underground rag was headed to mainstream success.

One former contributor, Albert Goldman, who called the rapid rise of High Times “the publishing success story of the ‘70s,” reported that circulation would double with every issue, reaching its zenith in 1978 when an estimated 4 million people read the magazine each month. Following Forcade’s death near the end of that year, many worried that the mag would go belly up. Fortunately, the company’s lawyer, Michael Kennedy, stepped in and kept the whole thing afloat.

Trial and Error

Under Kennedy’s leadership, High Times made a brief foray into hard drug coverage. Covers from the era featured images of cocaine. The magazine occasionally replaced its famed centerfolds which were originally Playboy-style images of cannabis plants from the first issue—with photos of lines of white powder and pills. It also expanded the Trans-High Market Quotation to include prices for methamphetamines, LSD, and cocaine. Staff recalls feeling that in the late ‘70s, the publication was at a crossroads. Was it going to leave its original, exclusive focus on cannabis in favor of a more expansive look at illicit drugs? Or would it return to its roots, as a cannabis-centric, enlightenment-focused magazine?

In the end, it was High Time’s third editorial leaders, Steven Hager and John Howell, who solidified the magazine’s niche. They left the hard drug coverage behind and doubled down on cannabis, establishing the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam in 1988. Hager originally envisioned the Cannabis Cup as ”a real spiritual thing… when you bought your ticket, you were buying into something that charged your spiritual battery.” Although that particular dream never became a reality, the annual event did become the biggest cannabis competition in the world, bringing together growers from all over and eventually moving stateside as legalization progressed.

Despite the massive commercial success of the Cannabis Cup, the ‘90s almost saw the end of High Times. The DEA’s Operation Green Merchant, which targeted businesses selling equipment for growing cannabis, struck nearly all advertisers the magazine relied on.

Faced with such an enormous dip in their funding, the editorial team was sure the writing was on the wall for the project. Somehow, they squeaked by, but the paranoia ran so high that the magazine repeatedly reassured subscribers that it would never hand over personal info to any government agency, no matter how hard those agencies pressed.

Perhaps in response to the legal drama and overall paranoia, the magazine flirted with abandoning cannabis altogether in the early ‘00s. For one short year, it rebranded as a high-brow literary publication. The change wasn’t entirely unprecedented—throughout its run, High Times had published work by well-established authors like Hunter S. Thompson, William S. Burroughs, Truman Capote, Allen Ginsberg, and Charles Bukowski—but subscribers did not welcome it. So, once again, High Times returned to cannabis. 

The Death of High Times

Things chugged along without much fuss for much of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. Staff at the magazine kept busy establishing the Counterculture Hall of Fame, creating the Stony Awards, shooting their first feature film “High Times Potluck,” and developing two spin-off publications about hemp and medical marijuana. Then, in 2017, the magazine announced its move to LA after spending its first 43 years in its native NYC. Matt Stang, the chief revenue officer at the time, told Crain’s New York Business the move was necessary because “the center of the cannabis universe [had] moved to California” while New York’s cannabis laws remained stagnant and strangling. 

At the time, the move seemed like the best way for the magazine to remain relevant and out of legal trouble. Ultimately, though, it spelled the beginning of the end for High Times. Shortly after its relocation, a group of investors headed by Adam Levin acquired it. That group proved to be more worried about cashing out financially than they were about protecting the hard-earned reputation of the publication. Some ill-advised business decisions and shady financial maneuvering led to legal battles and high staff turnover. High Times struggled so much that when COVID hit in 2020, it officially halted production.

A Lasting Legacy 

Photo Credit: High Times magazine published its last issue in September 2024.

Though the iconic publication is gone, people certainly haven’t forgotten it. One former editor, David Bienenstock, spoke to Politico about its legacy. “For generations of readers, it was a voice in the wilderness, talking about the damage of the drug war, talking about the racism of the drug war, talking about the medicinal benefits of the plant, teaching people all over the country and around the world how to grow this plant and pushing that culture forward.” And actor Tommy Chong reminisced on what the magazine meant to its readers. “High Times is our official magazine—it united stoners globally”. I mean, we always knew that there were other stoners out there, but not until High Times magazine came along, no publication had devoted everything to the weed …. “ 

High Times certainly paved the way for many of the smaller cannabis publications that exist today— we’re all standing on the shoulders of the giants that have come before us— but it’s almost certain that none will have the same cultural impact and resonance that High Times has left in its wake.