The company has also repeatedly delayed plans for an IPO, raising the prospect that its stock might never trade publicly. The company has been selling stock to consumers at $11 a share, while disclosures show that savvier institutional investors have secured stock deals for an effective price that is much lower. “I can think of no better symbol than what has happened to it.” “ High Times has become very emblematic of the corporatization of cannabis,” said a former editor, one of several departed employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing a nondisparagement agreement.
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The initial promise of the green rush has, in many quarters, given way to disappointment that legal cannabis has become a mercenary business, failing to benefit minority communities that have suffered from the drug war or even offer enticing returns to professional investors. This latest chapter of High Times’ storied existence closely tracks that of the broader cannabis industry. Publication of its flagship print magazine has ground to a halt, and lawsuits have been piling up. Instead, there have been layoffs and resignations. High Times’ moves since then-to expand its live events, run its own dispensaries and open a delivery service-were supposed to position it as a 21st century media brand and a leading player in the growing business of legal pot. Levin’s private equity firm Oreva Capital led an acquisition of the company a year later, with participation from reggae star Damian Marley. But the 2016 death of its longtime chairman, Michael Kennedy, unsettled the delicate balance of power within what had been, essentially, a family business. Less than a decade ago, High Times was entering a golden age, poised to reap the rewards of the mainstreaming of weed, and riding the strength of a wildly successful events business anchored by its Cannabis Cup competitions.
It also survived the suicide of its outlaw founder, the war on drugs, and three federal grand jury investigations.īut now that cannabis has become legal across much of the country, High Times finds itself in a different kind of trouble.Ī review of SEC disclosures and court filings as well as dozens of interviews with former staffers and others with insight into its operations paint a picture of a company that has traded in its credibility in cannabis circles to chase big “green rush” profits that have not materialized.
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For generations of readers it was “a voice in the wilderness,” explained former editor David Bienenstock, “talking about the damage of the drug war, talking about the racism of the drug war, talking about the medicinal benefits of the plant, teaching people all over the country and around the world how to grow this plant and pushing that culture forward.”Ĭonstantly running afoul of authorities, the magazine became an icon of the counterculture and an indispensable guide to the underground world of cannabis.
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