Great Moments in Weed History

Richard Lee's life changed forever in 1990 when he slipped on a catwalk while setting up the lights for an Aerosmith concert, suffering a spinal injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. A Texas native raised by conservative Republican parents, he would subsequently dedicate his life to educating his family, the government, and ultimately the entire country about medical cannabis. Along...

Charlotte Parker started Head magazine while working an entry level publishing job at Penthouse, in order to cover the world of weed in depth at a time long before legalization. Looking back at a few covers from those 1970s glory days shows she was well ahead of the curve, with stories like “How to Make Hash Oil in Your Kitchen,” and “Grow the Most Potent Pot Plants Indoors.” Plus, Head featured i...

After being incarcerated as a teenager for weed, Kevin Jodrey joined the military and trained as a deep sea diver, only to end up conscripted into performing anti-drug interdiction raids out in the middle of the ocean.  From there he slid back into the weed underground, spending the next few decades moving serious weight in from Mexico and joining Northern California’s second wave of off-the-grid...

From judging the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, to touring Northern California during harvest season, to seshing with the steady stream of growers, dealers, breeders, smugglers, rogues, outlaws, musicians, celebrities, and activists who stopped by the High Times offices in New York City during our illustrious tenure at the mag, Danny Danko and I have shared many incredible adventures in the field.. So...

What does it mean to talk about Pride when it comes to cannabis? First and foremost it means celebrating the central role that the LGBTQ+ community has played in the global struggle for weed liberation. Pride also has a special meaning for all of us weed enthusiasts who’ve been stigmatized, criminalized or ostracized for our love of this plant.  Prior to this conversation, I’d never met Laganja Es...

Adam Dunn first arrived in Amsterdam as a teenager, and quickly found himself at the center of the city's famed international cannabis scene. In time, Adam would launch his own innovative ventures, including T.H.Seeds, which developed world-famous and award-winning strains including Bubblegum, S.A.G.E., Heavy Duty Fruity, and Chocolate Chunk.  He also started Hempworks, Europe’s first dedicated he...

Much how wine, cheese, and other agricultural products are authenticated as coming from their traditional geographic zone of origin, a new program about to launch is California will help old school growers in traditional cultivation communities protect their regional legacies in the world of weed. To explain this exciting new development, we shared a sesh with Genine Coleman, founder and Executive...

In 1971, John Lennon performed publicly, for the first time in five years, at a rally decrying the injustice of Michigan police targeting a radical political activist for an elaborate undercover sting operation, resulting in a sentence of ten years in prison for passing two joints. The concert brought massive media attention, and John Sinclair soon after walked out of prison a free man, landing Jo...

As our annual celebration of 4/20 rapidly approaches, please roll up and get ready for the incredible true story of how a small Northern California weed crew created an analog meme that grew into an international high holiday of cannabis liberation. But first, we check in with acclaimed journalist David Downs and Lance Lambert from Grove Bags about "weed week" in San Francisco, particularly the "G...

Faced with the rare neurodegenerative condition Friedreich's ataxia, John Cernosek decided to become a patient-advocate and write a book about his healing journey with cannabis. He's currently headed to Las Vegas as an invited guest of the National Ataxia Foundation, where he will present an excerpt from his book at their annual conference. This is a huge step for a conference that has never befor...

Whether rolling up a six-paper-joint or hiding their hashish by making it into a driveway, the Trailer Park Boys have been growing, smoking, and celebrating the herb on their hit TV series for more than 25 years. So when GMIWH sat down with Robb Wells (who plays Ricky), there were more incredible weed stories to share than Randy eats cheeseburgers. So roll up and settle in for the behind-the-scene...

System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian has won a Grammy and played on multi-platinum selling records, all fueled by the creative boost he gets from cannabis. In fact, he loves the plant so much he started his own brand, 22 Red, and serves as his own quality control expert. We talk about his first puff, the weed dealer who changed his life, the adventure and occasional pot-holes of trying to score...

In 1964, in a NYC hotel room, Bob Dylan met the Beatles for the very first time and turned them on to cannabis. Sounds like the stuff of legend and lore, but it really happened, and a rock journalist of the era was on hand to document in detail how the whole sesh went down. For starters, the Beatles made Ringo serve as "royal taster," to see if puffing a joint made him go insane before the others...

This episode features an outlaw, a fugitive, an inmate, a journalist, a weed dealer, an LSD distributor, a defendant and an accomplished filmmaker. And they’re all the same person. I first started reading Seth Ferranti’s writing back in the late 90s, when he was the official prison correspondent for VICE magazine, while serving a 21 year sentence, after getting busted for possession of 100,000 dos...

Ramon Reyes started out selling herb on the streets of NYC as a teenager and subsequently climbed through the ranks of the underground, the gray market and the legal industry to now run a licensed dispensary in the same heavily Dominican neighborhood where he grew up. Along with partner Vlad Bautista, Ramon originally co-founded Happy Munkey as a speakeasy style consumption lounge after a trip to...

In 1999, this week's guest starred in one of the most financially successful films of all time, but the circumstances around the making and marketing of Blair Witch Project meant that her incredible accomplishment actually came with a lot of very steep downsides.  A story that’s briefly chronicled in her memoir: Growgirl: The Blossoming of an Unlikely Outlaw… by Heather Donahue (now known as Rei H...

Celebrate stony seasonal traditions old and new with our GMIWH Holidaze special. In addition to our annual retelling of the story of Santa's origin as a Siberian psychedelic mushroom shaman, we also enjoy Santa's Secret—a song from the 1940 about St. Nick and his 100 foot long reefer, and revive the seasonal tradition of Jay Thomas telling David Letterman all about the time he got too stoned and t...

Back when cannabis was barely legal, an eco-minded off-the-grid ganja farm strived to create a sustainable vision of decentralized, utopian agrarian life that put people and the planet above profits. Return to a moment in the past full of hope and promise that just might point the way to a greener future for everyone who loves the plant and the culture.  PATREON Please support Great Moments in Wee...

How did a bunch of farmers from Kentucky create the biggest pot growing and smuggling syndicate in American history? We hear that barn burning story straight from Jim Higdon, author of Cornbread Mafia: A Homegrown Syndicate's Code Of Silence And The Biggest Marijuana Bust In American History Music clip in intro: Cornbread Mafia by Sticktight PATREON Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on...

Weed history teaches us to overcome the forces of oppression with the help of our favorite plant ally. In this episode we talk with Dr. Mariana Hoyo, a bright young physician who started out fearing weed because of a bunch of bullshit propaganda, and now has a practice focused on endocannabinology and even teaches classes on the endocannabinoid system at the very same medical school where she once...

Election season anxiety? Take a break from the horserace and travel back to 1970, when the Gonzo author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ran for Sheriff in Colorado on a "free weed" platform as part of the newly formed Freak Power party. Plus, experience a great moment in Bean's personal weed history when he describes a visit to the High Minded Humboldt farmstead for some seasonal agricultural wo...

This episode includes a recently discovered audio tape exposing the War on Marijuana as a total fraud, a state-by-state guide to voting for weed in the 2024 election, an up close look at how Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz legalized cannabis as the governor of Minnesota, and the story of a tireless grassroots activist living off $2 hot dogs at the capitol after getting busted for s...

For over fifty years, Michelle and Michael Aldrich have tirelessly advocated for the cannabis plant. A joint life's journey that started when they first met at the first-ever conference hosted by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. How’s that for a weed meet cute?  In this episode, we hear directly from this high-namic duo about how and why they've played a leading role in...

What have you always wanted to know about the herb but were afraid to ask? Bean scoured the Reddit /trees forum and asked Great Moments in Weed History supporters on Patreon to find out, and then sat down for a sesh, put on his "Uncle Stoner" hat, and dished out some info and advice based on his 20+ years of reporting on our favorite plant. Does weed sometimes make you anxious, or weepy or want to...

Jerry Garcia and Mountain Girl sat rolling joints and cleaning the stems and seeds from a brick of weed when a fateful knock came at the door of 710 Ashbury Street. Having your communal crash pad raided by the police isn’t typically the start of a great moment, but for the Grateful Dead, the October 1967 undercover police sting operation that targeted their home and headquarters turned into a pivo...