A Newer, Higher Times

A Newsday column on the revamp of venerable pot journal High Times quotes new publisher (and ex-con) Richard Stratton:

"The High Times sensibility is libertarian ? more than left-wing or right-wing," Stratton [says]. "It's a lifestyle magazine for people who don't think the government should tell them how to live," whether they choose to get high or not.

"It's the whole outlaw attitude," added his editor, Annie Nocenti. "And it's a fundamental part of the American character."

Comments

[dhex]

not that i have a lot of faith in this actually amounting to something serious, but it'd be an interesting avenue to legions of people who may not be very familiar with ideas on liberty outside of drugs.

[MoMan]

You ought to check out some of the discussion on http://www.marijuana.com. Go to the Cheaptalk forum - very interesting.

[Swamp Justice]

The LP needs more booths at hippy hemp festivals.

[Rick Barton]

Interesting. About a month ago I was over at a prominent loc blog, contending the pedigree of the "New Deal" was one of corporate statism (not the first time that I've had this debate on that blog).

I cited Wall Street and FDR by Antony Sutton.
http://www.antonysutton.com/suttonbibliography.html

http://www.freedomdomain.com/secretsocieties/suttoninterview.html

One of my opponents posted that Sutton was not to be taken seriously because High Times published his stuff. I told him that maybe he would feel better to know that Antony Sutton had been a research fellow Stanford. His answer was basically; that it didn't matter since a High Times association was ultimately damning!

[JimInNoVA]

I was more ammused by the "outlaw attitude" line. The last time I saw a large group of libertarians gathered in one place, their only resembelence to "outlaws" was not having bathed since Mad Max came out. It's a shame that the libertarians on college campuses are lending good ideas such a foul oder.

[Rick Barton]

"It's the whole outlaw attitude," added his editor, Annie Nocenti. "And it's a fundamental part of the American character."

Seems true. Rothbard wrote that America is humankind's last and best hope for liberty because Americans possess a feisty anti-government attitude found nowhere else in the world.

[Warren]

I read HT back in the late 80's. I thought it was oh so subversive of me. Now I just get high, and don't read about it. Not that close-ups of resin-laden buds and articles about do-it-yourself grow rooms and bongs interest me any less. But now I am much more low keyed about my drug use. I don't wear it like a badge anymore, not since I started lying about it to my employer.

[Will]

I picked up High Times maybe on 3 occasions over the past 10 years - each and every time I've been turned off by how incredibly low-IQ the magazine was.

I recall commenting to a friend a few years back about the then current HT issue: which featured a full cover, vintage picture of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong... "How incredibly typically," and "Hippies just don't get it do they?" summed up our comments.

However, two weeks ago I was in a local record shop here in Chicago and saw the new issue which is very slick looking - they have definitely tried to move the magazine up market and it now looks more like Gear or some other pseudo-fashion magazine. The graphics, type & layout have all been streamlined - and the few blurbs I thumbed through seemed coherent. I still didn't buy it (I'm way too grown up to be caught with a copy of HT) but I feel like it's a step in the right direction.

There is definitely room in the market place for a pot-mag that DOESN'T (intentionally) appeal to dumbass hippies and low life pot-heads.

[Pavel]

http://www.theonion.com/onion3624/libertarian_convention.html

I think the second picture says about all I have to say on this topic.

[kevrob]

I always thought Nocenti's run on Daredevil read like the writer was on something.