Last year, HIGH TIMES took a chance on a new idea: We set out to prove that a beauty pageant could be about not just superficial beauty, but also spirituality and substance-that it could be about bonding rather than backstabbing, empowerment rather than exploitation.
Another psych-med campus murder spree, this time in Illinois, has added five more victims to the antidepressant’s death toll. This murderer was on a cocktail of Xanax, Prozac and Ambien. These drugs make some people lose their minds and souls; don’t believe for a minute that these folks were murderers before they started taking this stuff.
It’s not Hash Plant, it’s a trash plant! A grower in Mendocino, CA, was in a playful mood last spring when he tossed a seed into a compost pile just to see what the result would be. By autumn, his moment of whimsy had produced a thriving specimen of Raspberry nourished by fruit rinds, coffee grounds and assorted organic refuse.
The American College of Physicians, the largest medical specialty organization and the second-largest physicians’ group in the United States, has urged an overhaul of federal policy on medical marijuana, stating that medical-pot users should be protected from criminal and civil penalties.
It's official: The best place in the world to be a professional beach bum is the village of Bluefields in Nicaragua. Located on the country's Caribbean coast, Bluefields has 50,000 residents. Although 85 percent are unemployed, the people are getting by, because sacks of cocaine keep washing up on shore on a weekly—sometimes even daily—basis.
A study published in Neurology, which was conducted at San Francisco General Hospital from 2003 to 2005, showed that among 50 patients suffering from HIV-related foot pain, THC offered relief. Three times daily for nearly a week, 25 patients received pot and 25 received placebo joints with no THC. Thirteen of the patients who smoked pot claimed that their foot pain decreased by at least a third.
A group of psychiatrists wasting their time (and research grants) recently conducted a study that effectively equates the symptoms of withdrawing from pot with those of withdrawing from tobacco. The study, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, examined 12 people who smoked both cigarettes and pot.
Maybe you read this recently: "Marijuana Makes Teeth Fall Out." This frightening thought is delivered to you courtesy of another of those histrionic, slanderous "research" studies that seem to be targeting marijuana of late. Researchers expecting to find a link between periodontal (gum) disease and cannabis smoking followed 903 New Zealanders from birth to the age of 32.
The Hershey Company has decided to yank its popular breath mint, Ice Breakers Pacs, from store shelves because “some community and law-enforcement leaders have expressed concern about the shape of the pouch and the possibility that it could be mistaken for illicit items,” announced company CEO David J. West during a conference call.
Check out the Kottonmouth Kings’ latest offering, “Greatest Highs.” The planet’s most out-front pot rockers have just released this supersize double CD featuring 37 classic tracks, plus two new “joints.” Toke up to tunes like “Fire It Up,” “Gone High,” “So High” and “Rip the Night Away.”
Medical pot is now available via vending machines.
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In February, two medicinal-cannabis vending machines, which may herald a new system for the distribution and sale of medical marijuana, were unveiled in cutting-edge California. Invented by medical-marijuana dispensary owner Vincent Mehdizadeh, the vending machines offer patients 24-hour access to less expensive cannabis.
Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw admitted that he used pot—back in the 1960s. As he told Barbara Walters on her Sirius radio show: “How could you not in those days, right? What I did was experiment with a little marijuana like a lot of other people and walked away.”
Oregon police slashed and burned pot plants at a record pace in 2007, but that record may have to stand for a long, long time. Well over 250,000 pot plants were seized in the state last year, and hundreds of growers were busted. However, in order to do the job, law enforcement depended on infusions of money from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant.
The Single Convention treaty keeps the black market thriving.
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Mark Miller
Ever wonder why pot is illegal and overpriced in a worldwide black market? Is every nation as duplicitous as the United States regarding a plant that is consumed by millions and has hundreds of medical uses? The answers lie in an often-overlooked international treaty called the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which illustrates the influence that the US wields in promoting and enforcing the antimarijuana global hegemony.
Dr. Mitch, You recently wrote that pot doesn’t hurt a woman’s chances of getting pregnant. What about tobacco? Fecund J Hi J, New data from fertility clinics suggest that women who smoke 10 or more cigarettes a day have a harder time conceiving and carrying a child to term.
How strange that Prozac, Xanax and Adderall are socially acceptable, while the choice to inhale cannabis for relief remains demonized. Bruce Levine, an author and clinical psychologist who has addressed America’s hypocrisy toward drugs in his new book, Surviving America’s Depression Epidemic: How to Find Morale, Energy, and Community in a World Gone Crazy(Chelsea Green), believes an alternative approach to addressing the societal sources of despair is desperately needed.
Untold billions are squandered prosecuting pot crimes.
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According to the latest figures from the FBI, 739,000 American citizens were arrested in 2006 for possessing small amounts of pot. Another 91,000 were charged with marijuana-related felonies. That’s the highest annual total ever recorded-nearly double the number of citizens busted for pot 15 years ago.
Matt Simon, executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy (nh.commonsense.org), is a relative newcomer to the drug-law reform scene. But that hasn’t stopped his year-old organization from making a quick impact.
After their sample-driven 2004 release, To the Five Boroughs, the Beastie Boys were looking to go in another direction, much as they did when they followed up Paul’s Boutique with Check Your Head. A similar return to their instruments produced last year’s dub-inflected jazz-funk instrumental album, The Mix-Up.
By now, most of us are familiar with the musical exploits of the Marley children; however, one member of Marley’s extended musical family whose name you might not know yet is Cen’C Love, the daughter of Bunny Wailer. Love’s headquarters these days are in Hotlanta , GA, although she makes frequent trips to Kingston, Jamaica.
Pot, paranoia and paranormal activity in the recording studio.
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Jim Hall
Washington, DC’s Dead Meadow know a thing or two about psychedelic experiences—but nothing could have prepared the trio for the whacked-out shit they encountered during the recording of their fifth full-length album. Entitled Old Growth, the 12-song disc was recorded in an 1860s farmhouse in Indiana, on land belonging to drummer Stephen McCarty’s uncle.
The latest crop of reggae artists to sprout from the fertile Caribbean soil ensures that the resurgence of “roots" music continues growing strong. Twenty-four-year-old I Wayne—born Cliffroy Taylor in Portmore, Jamaica—sang the hypnotically catchy song “Can't Satisfy Her," which dominated urban radio in 2004 and 2005.
They don’t make visionaries like they used to, partly because they’ve stopped making vision-aries, period. Willie demolished the rules of country music without ever sacrificing his down-home authenticity. He turns 75 this year and continues to tour and record.
During a debate in the Democratic presidential campaign, MSNBC moderator Tim Russert, the Claymation journalist, asked candidates who opposed the decriminalization of marijuana to raise their hands. Barack Obama hesitantly raised his hand halfway before quickly lowering it again.
Since adopting the nickname Bobby Black as my official nom de plume over a decade ago, I’ve become aware of several other gentlemen who also bear the moniker—a hip-hop DJ, a legendary steel-guitar player and a rather corny crooner from Georgia—with none of whom I had very much in common.
Dear Vaporella, I have become fond of this one guy here in San Diego. He pushes pounds of pot, helps support his older brother, and his ex-girlfriend still lives with him. It’s a total bummer since I want to get to know him, and he supposedly still has a soft spot for his ex. But I’ve heard he’s down to meet as many chicks as possible, and I am hot.
A new cookbook offers tasty recipes for healing treats.
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Murphy Green
When cooking with cannabis, the most important consideration to keep in mind is dosage. If you’re planning to attend a concert, party or family reunion and want to enhance the experience without succumbing to a panic attack or an unforeseen nap, a mild cookie will do the trick.
First, combine all of the dry ingredients except the cocoa powder. Add the melted ganja butter, mixing thoroughly. Next, add cocoa powder. Use a blender to make a smoothie with the apple juice, banana and ginger. Add small amounts of the smoothie into the mixture until you have a batter that can be easily rolled into balls.
There was only one reason I ever imagined I’d find myself in Louisiana—to drown in the delirious melee of beads, booze, bare breasts and brass bands that calls itself Mardi Gras. But rather than spending Fat Tuesday cruising down Bourbon Street in search of my own personal Girls Gone Wild episode, I was hundreds of miles north in the rundown riverboat town of Shreveport, dragging along Red River in the back of an old taxi.
Joints, Bongs and Ukuleles Fly at the 2008 Miss HIGH TIMES Pageant.
The Calm Before the Storm
"I might be the first hippie pinup girl.”-Janis Joplin
Caves, Cliffs and Consciousness
Hiking to the Heavens
Blazin’ Up the Talent
The Crowning Roll
Aum Is Where the Heart Is
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Vaporella
It’s eight days, seven finalists, three wild cards, 80°F and SPF 30 scheduled for Negril, Jamaica, and here we are on Day 1. Or, as Bobby Black would like to describe it, “Staff Arrives at Hotel.” Bobby’s printed up an itinerary for staff, filmmakers, girls and hotel desk clerks in order to avoid any possible repeat of last year’s free-for-all.
Where well-cultured cultivators brew compost tea for their organic ganja. By David Bienenstock Since the earliest days of agriculture, compost—an aerobic mix of decaying vegetation and decomposing animal wastes—has been collected, managed and later spread to crops by farmers as a free organic fertilizer.
It’s hard to get a read on Chris Meloni. There’s a certain menace to his looks, but he’s actually a laid-back family man, breezy and fun-loving and clearly enjoying the ride that his career has given him. As the star of the top-rated drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Chris plays a stolid detective who investigates lurid sex crimes.
This was my first soil plant that I grew. The strain is unknown, but it’s beautiful! The leaves turned purple at the end of the plant's life cycle, and the smoke was great! —Mauve Farmer Bag seed, 150-watt bulbs, dirt, using the K.I.S.S. method.
In June, Kush resumed its customary spot as the most submitted strain of the month; however, its average price dropped nearly $50 from May. Additionally, all individual indices (Kind, Mids and Schwag) came in below their year-to-date averages.
Upon arrival in West Africa, after traveling for 28 consecutive hours with missionaries, I really needed a joint. I was traveling with the missionaries for safety reasons, so getting away to sneak a smoke was quite tricky. When we checked into our hotel, severely jetlagged at 4 in the morning, everyone else immediately crashed.
True pot aficionados always look for finer, thinner papers that allow the true flavor of their buds to come shining through. Joints rolled with new premium DLX Papers burn more slowly and smoothly due to the ultra-thin rice-paper technology. You’ll see the difference in the wispy white ash, and you’ll taste the difference with your very first DLX spliff. The 1¼ profile is the perfect size for joints without too much extra wrapping, and DLX uses a pure acacia gum that’s vegan-friendly. Best of all is the proprietary crisscross watermark, which prevents any kind of “running” or “canoeing.” So try DLX Papers—the cannabis connoisseur’s choice. Price: Varies Contact: Rolling Supreme, rollingsupreme.com
Rolling Supreme
CP3 I-Scale
$59.99
The coolest new “It” phone takes a backseat to the coolest new scale with Monster Smoke Shop’s new CP3 I-Scale. On the surface, it seems like just another yuppie toy, but a closer look reveals a digital weighing device that’s second to none. With a decent weight capacity and strong construction, the I-scale is long-lasting and will always ensure that you know your bags’ true weight. Combine that with a stealth factor of 10 out of 10 and this scale truly becomes an absolute must for the discerning smoker or dealer. Price: $59.99 plus shipping and handling Contact: Monster Smoke Shop, monstersmokeshop.com/digital-scales.html
Rolling Supreme
Dino-Lite Hand-Held Digital Microscope
$179
Have you ever wanted to look a little more closely at your buds than a simple magnifying glass or loupe would allow? Using the new Dino-Lite Hand-Held Digital Microscope from Black Betty Products (introduced at the 20th Annual Cannabis Cup in November 2007), you can digitally photograph or video what’s happening on the surface of your plants, whether you’re checking for bugs, trying to determine sex or choosing the right time to harvest. You can even check out those "heady nugs" you just got to see how many of the trichomes actually remain intact (and thus potent). So take a closer look and be certain-but be careful what you wish for: The BBP Web site shows pictures of spider-mite feces and a video of one spider mite taking a whiz. Ewww! Price: Several models available for all budgets. Medium-resolution models for $179; high-res, $349 Contact: Black Betty Products, 228-366-2665, blackbetty420.com
Rolling Supreme
Denali Gold
$11.95
Humus (pronounced "HYOO-muhs") produced by the decomposition of vegetable or animal matter, is considered a must-have potting mix supplement for the organic gardener. Growing in fortified Denali Gold from Alaska ensures that you’re using a naturally rich, fertile living soil. The humus is harvested after thousands of years beneath the permafrost and acts as a natural pH buffer and moisture regulator, retaining many times its weight in water. The difference between this mix and most others is the accumulation of volcanic ash and glacial silt, which mature over time and combine to produce a soil that works perfectly on its own or as a nutritious mulch. Price: 4 quarts, $11.95 plus shipping and handling Contact: Alaska Organics, 253-514-8813, denaligold.us
How does one go about moving to Amsterdam and becoming a coffeeshop employee or a grower/tester for HIGH TIMES? How do I do what everyone sees in HIGH TIMES? J. Man Via Internet □ear J., Find yourself a cheap place to stay and visit as many coffeeshops as you can to ask for a job.
June is the best month to set seedlings and clones outdoors in most climates. In cold climates, temperatures may drop too much at night, below 50°F (10°C), which will make it necessary to plant under plastic or glass. Growers in warm climates should plant now.
Remember Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High? He played the memorable stoner Jeff Spicoli, whose quote regarding surfing and pot has become a movie classic: "All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz and I'm fine!" Next month, HIGH TIMES dives deep to explore the special relationship between bud and board.