High Times

High Times Magazine is the world's premier counterculture publication and the most influential brand in cannabis media history. Founded as an underground magazine, it has spent over five decades championing cannabis legalization, cultivating community, and providing technical growing expertise. Today, the brand encompasses digital media, live events, and advocacy, cementing its role as an international beacon for cannabis culture.

High Times was founded in 1974 by Tom Forçade, an underground journalist, political activist, and prolific marijuana smuggler. Forçade envisioned a magazine that would do for cannabis what Playboy did for sex. Funded by smuggling proceeds, the first issue was meant to be a one-off joke or experiment. Instead, it sold out instantly. Within a few years, it achieved a monthly circulation of over 500,000 copies, rivaling mainstream giants like Rolling Stone. Tragically, Forçade committed suicide in 1978, but his counterculture blueprint survived. High Times always did more than report on news - it shaped the lexicon of a movement. It brought a hidden, underground economy of bongs, glass pipes, and lifestyle gear into the public eye. Over fifty years, its pages have featured standard-bearing literary icons like Hunter S. Thompson, Truman Capote, and William S. Burroughs, alongside musical figureheads like Bob Marley, Snoop Dogg, and Willie Nelson.

As the federal War on Drugs intensified, High Times shifted from covering exotic global drug travel to empowering local consumers. The brand became a massive political ally to organizations like NORML, providing millions of dollars in funding and ad space. It also revolutionized "homegrown" cannabis. Through legendary cultivation editors, the magazine taught readers how to grow premium marijuana indoors, out of sight of law enforcement. In 1988, the brand launched the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, creating the world's first and most prestigious marijuana strain competition.

As legalization sweeping across the United States shifted cannabis from contraband to a multi-billion-dollar industry, High Times experienced severe growing pains. The company was sold to an investor group in 2017 to commercialize the brand, which led to experimental corporate pivots and eventual financial receivership. However, a major revival occurred in June 2025, when Josh Kesselman, the founder of RAW Rolling Papers, acquired High Times for $3.5 million. Under Kesselman's publishing leadership, the brand has stripped away corporate bloat to return to its authentic, grassroots counterculture origins. High Times operates as a multimedia engine featuring print editions, digital journalism, short-form documentaries, and the newly revitalized Cannabis Cup events.