Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 2, 1994 TAG: 9404300041
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Larry McShane Associated PRess
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Long
Signs of the times? Not at High Times, where the counterculture lives on - and still inhales.
As the magazine marks its own milestone - 20 years of publishing - High Times still covers marijuana ... and growing marijuana ... and the price of marijuana ... and, well, you get the idea.
"We have always kept true to our grass roots," said publisher John Holmstrom. "We didn't turn into a culture magazine like Rolling Stone. Our role is the same as it was in the mid-'70s, the mid-'80s."
Unlike Rolling Stone, the perception IS the reality at High Times: Cannabis is king at this publication.
The magazine debuted on June 2, 1974 - the year of Patti Hearst's kidnapping and Richard Nixon's resignation. Its founder was Tom Forcade, a charter member of the Yippies with Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman.
It hasn't been all smooth smoking in the years since. High Times was banned for content in Canada and Iraq. There were hits from the government over advertising, a backlash from the war on drugs, an increasingly conservative America in the 1980s, and its own lack of direction.
Boosted in part by a new generation of musicians who back the marijuana law reform, High Times is again flourishing. The magazine now sells 200,000 copies per month - down from its haze-day of the mid-1970s, but a solid base.
"They have clearly stuck to their ideals," said Allen St. Pierre, assistant national director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
"All the other magazines of the time - Head, Party Time, Buzz - turned into rags. High Times was never a rag."
Or a mainstream magazine. Recent articles have included "Outdoor Megaweed in Minnesota," "Tips For Not Getting Caught Outdoors" - a cautionary piece for home growers - and "Prof. Afghani's Guide to Curing Cannabis."
February featured a five-page spread on "The Battle for Medical Marijuana" and an update on Brett Kimberlin, the Indianapolis pot dealer who claims he sold to ex-veep Dan Quayle. In April, Beavis and Butt-head grabbed the cover - dressed in hippie garb, smoking a couple of joints.
The magazine quickly carved a niche in the mid-'70s with its cutting-edge journalism and dedication to legalization. It was an early home for Tom Robbins, whose "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" was excerpted in High Times, and Larry "Ratso" Sloman, now best known as Howard Stern's co-author.
But after Forcade's 1978 suicide, things got a little shaky at High Times. The magazine ventured into harder drugs and psychedelics, alienating some of its core readership and damaging its reputation.
"People thought High Times created crack babies," Holmstrom recalled.
Marijuana - and readership - made a comeback when Steven Hager arrived as executive editor in 1986.
Although the magazine today is leaner - 12 full-time writers and five part- timers, down from a 50-person writing staff in the '70s - High Times was nominated in 1992 for a MagazineWeek award for editorial excellence.
The monthly's typical reader is a male, in his 20s, with some college education. One more thing: He's a toker. Nine out of 10 who answered a survey said they smoked pot.
"But I don't think we get the real stoners. They don't read," Holmstrom said. "We get people in the more political end of things. We're becoming more popular as we've gotten more political."
The politics include the promotion of hemp for other uses - clothes, paper, construction - and a constant focus on medical marijuana. Glaucoma patients, people with AIDS and a paraplegic with muscle spasms are among the people profiled in a spread on pot as medicine.
The magazine is a loose place to work.
Music editor Steve Bloom recalls smoking a fat joint in his office during an interview with rapper Redman. And about drug-testing for new staffers: "We always joke, `If you don't flunk the test, you don't get the job,' " said Hager. Pot-smoking is actually not a prerequisite; support of decriminalization is.
One major reason for the magazine's resurgence, particularly with young readers, is its links to the new wave of pro-pot musicians. Rappers Cypress Hill and rockers the Black Crowes - smokers both - received cover stories in 1992.
"That was a big year as far as addressing the new movement of musicians out there supporting what we were doing," said Bloom, who joined the magazine five years ago. "We were surprised the bands were showing an interest in the legalization movement."
They are. The Black Crowes played a show for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The Spin Doctors, Guns 'N Roses and Pearl Jam are all pro-legalization. Rapper Dr. Dre named his debut album "The Chronic" after a potent strain of California pot.
The new bands appeal to younger readers, but the High Times braintrust says a lot of the older ones are still around. They might be surprised by one thing: Although it may never be respectable, High Times is increasingly respected.
"It's day and night now with how people view High Times," Holmstrom said. "People now respect us for sticking to our ideals, for fighting the good fight all the time."
by CNB