A longtime fan of High Times magazine has purchased the stoner bible with a pledge to bring back its counterculture ethos — even as marijuana has gone mainstream.
Josh Kesselman, the founder of Raw, a brand of rolling papers, bought the publication for $3.5 million, he announced on Tuesday.
Founded in 1974, High Times was once a home to heavyweight contributors including William S. Burroughs and Charles Bukowski. In its heyday were headlines such as “Best Smuggling Ships,” and its covers in the 1970s were graced by titans of the anti-establishment, including Bob Marley and Andy Warhol.
But a private equity takeover in 2017 seemed to change the tone; one article explained “Popular Ways to Consume Cannabis” and it added gift guides. After the publication’s parent company, the Hightimes Holding Corporation, failed to make loan payments last year, the magazine and its assets were taken over by a lender and put up for sale, and the September issue was its last.
Now, cannabis and its culture are far less subversive than they once were. Marijuana is legal in 24 states and the District of Columbia for recreational use, and in 15 more for medical use as well, according to The National Conference of State Legislatures. Mr. Kesselman wants to reinvent the magazine for modern readers and the world they now occupy.
When Mr. Kesselman first flipped through High Times’s pages in the 1980s, it was like “looking into an open world of possibilities, a world I didn’t even know existed,” he said. “Seeing not just the plants, but the lifestyle, the way that people were actually living an incredibly free life, it really inspired me to be me.”
Mr. Kesselman, 54, founded Raw in 2005 — the papers now line the shelves of gas stations and smoke shops around the world. The company generates an estimated billion dollars a year in retail revenue worldwide, according to a spokeswoman.
He and his fellow owner and partner in the magazine, Matt Stang, a former co-owner of High Times, plan to publish limited, collectible print editions, and in a host of other formats.
“There will be podcasts, there will be short-form video, there will be medium-form documentary,” Mr. Stang said.
Both he and Mr. Kesselman emphasized that the venture was not about personal gain.
High Times was not founded with profit as its driving force, Mr. Kesselman said. “Our goal is not to make money on this. Our goal is to rebuild it to what it once was.”
They also plan to bring back the Cannabis Cup next year, in which judges from around the world rate their favorite varieties of marijuana. The Cup was founded in 1988 by a High Times editor, according to the magazine’s website.
The driving force behind the purchase, though, was to try to create a hub for people to learn and share ideas. Readers may not fear persecution for the recreation as they did when the magazine was first published, but they can now further educate themselves about the plant and other drugs.
“It was always about freedom fighting, not just for the plant, but for High Times,” Mr. Kesselman said.
Emmett Lindner writes about breaking and trending news. He has written about international protests, climate change and social media influencers.
The post New Owner for High Times Magazine Bets on a Counterculture Comeback appeared first on New York Times.
