I’ve been curious about this for some time, and figured that the Dope would be the best place to have my question answered.
High Times magazine seems to exist for the sole purpose of flaunting a lifestyle that revolves around a supposedly illegal substance. So why aren’t the people involved with the magazine in jail?
Maybe a lawyer could best answer this.
They’re not doing anything illegal
Freedom of the press
They’re there for the same reason people write books on how to make bombs. People are interested in the subject matter. Though I’d rather know a High Times subscriber than a bomb-making subscriber. That’s just the way I roll.
Why do you think they should be in jail?
The Sopranos is all about a lifestyle revolving around illegal acts but nobody’s suggested arresting David Chase (except maybe for the blackout scene). Talking about something that’s illegal is generally not itself illegal.
More like promoting the benefits of a cheap, natural herb with well-documented medical properties…and pleasurable side effects. 
I don’t. I was curious as to why the publication was allowed to exist without any negative consequences for the editors who clearly have drug connections if they aren’t actually growing it themselves.
This isn’t about whether or not I’m for or against the legalization of marijuana (for it), it’s about me wondering about the legality of advertising the fact that you actively engage in something that’s supposed to be illegal.
What crime would you charge them with?
There is no crime to WRITE about smoking marijuana. I guess if you wanted to bust them for some kind of misdemeanor “disorderly conduct” nonsense, then you might be able to make it stick, but I think the negative PR in doing that would outweigh the benefits.
Let people speak and write about what they want, short of advocating violence, and let the debate continue!
I would assume that the magazine, as with any other publication, contains pictures, and what more proof of possession of an illegal substance do you need than to have pictures of people actually using it or holding it or growing it?
Presumably, you’d need proof that the photographer was actually in possession of the illegal substance rather than snapping pics of someone else’s stash.
I entirely understand that you can’t arrest someone for writing about something illegal. Well, mostly not anyway.
What I do wonder about though is whether the guys like those behind High Times, or Cheech and Chong or other artists whose art and livelihood revolves around talking about illegal substances can continue to have any actual current connection to those substances. You’d think the authorities would have them under such close watch that anyone they dealt with would be a suspect.
Does anyone know if the magazine’s staff write entirely from memory, or what?
Furthermore, most of the marijuana photgraphed in High Times is supposed to be some variety of look-alike weed that isn’t actually illegal.
I haven’t leafed through an HT for years, but I think a lot of the photographs didn’t include the faces or identifying marks of the subjects holding them. The feds could pinpoint the magazine or the photographer, but they couldn’t prove who was in the photo itself, holding the stuff.
Stoners? Write from memory? Have I been wooshed?
They can always have the photos done in a country like Holland, if it becomes necessary in the future.
IIRC, Tommy Chong had to do a few months in jail for selling water bongs. So, yeah, I’m sure they do make sure that these guys, at a minimum, keep their weed smoking behind closed doors…
How can anyone be busted for selling water bongs? I thought they just had to claim they were for tobacco. I mean, what’s really the difference between a bong and a small hookah?
And why would the cops be busting people for selling bongs over the internet when every gas station and convenience store in the country sells meth pipes?
(Yes, meth pipes. Those tiny polyester roses in little clear plastic tubes. Who on God’s green earth do you think actually wants to buy a tiny fake rose for three bucks? Nobody, that’s who. Not a single person has ever bought one for the rose. But plenty of people want a small plastic tube that can easily be converted into a pipe for smoking meth. And you buy your gas from the guy who sells them.)
Check out my above link. That the Feds found a pound of weed in his house helped their case.
Wow. I’d often wondered about those. Now can you explain the stickers with Calvin pissing on the Ford symbol?
Well, write from vague recollection then.
Maybe misinformed?
On a vaguely related matter, who rolls their own cigarettes using King Size papers?
Neat trick, given that Holland is a region in the Netherlands.