Category: From the Vault

In the early 1970s, before the advent of High Times, I was living on a horse farm in Maine, supporting my writing habit by smuggling pot, when Rolling Stone assigned me to do a story on Rochdale College in Toronto. Rochdale had been conceived as an educational experiment, an open university located in a downtown Toronto high-rise, but had quickly morphed into the most concentrated soft-drug distribution center in North America.

Original publication: September 2004. HOW TO NOT GET ARRESTED NYCLU.ORG Everyone has the right to engage in peaceful protest activity on public sidewalks, in public parks and on public streets in New York City. This includes the right to distribute handbills or leaflets; the right to hold press conferences, demonstrations and rallies; and the right to march on public sidewalks

Even the great and exalted Bob Marley once smoked ganja for the first time. And he probably asked a bunch of dumb questions and coughed too much throughout. So if you’re ever called upon to help guide an uninitiated friend or relative into the wonderful world of herbal delights, you must strive to remain exceedingly patient, kind and accommodating throughout the proceedings—no matter what.

Count Beat poet Allen Ginsberg among the nation’s first hemp activists. After his seminal poem Howl thrust him into the national spotlight in 1956, Ginsberg began speaking out in favor of marijuana-law reform, gay rights and a myriad of other causes close to his heart.

Wisdom well-stated remains valuable long after its author has turned stupid. In the case of Timothy Leary, a legacy remains that is still worth exhuming. In 1968, when Leary was still the High Priest of Acid and not yet a federal informer, he penned an article titled “Deal for Real,” setting forth brilliantly the ethics and spiritual rewards of righteous dope dealing.

Lawrence, Kansas isn’t a dateline you’d expect for an interview with William Burroughs. After all, this is one of the creators of the original “Beat” scene who made his reputation in such urban centers as London, Paris, Tangier and New York.

We have recently seen the defeat of Senator Briggs’s antigay bill (Proposition Six) in California. What did Proposition Six actually say? Well, really—protect schoolchildren from contracting homosexuality by some sorta awful osmosis oozes out of any faggot slime.

Bountiful harvests are easy in a growroom equipped with the right gear. Some essentials are household items that cost next to nothing while a few items can be a bit pricey. All of them make gardening easier, safer and more productive. So, without further ado, here are 25 useful items no bud garden should be without.

“Mestre Asplingler invites the Caravan to a ‘oasca sessau’ in his house this weekend. We are meeting Friday afternoon, bring your hammocks and get ready for a long journey.” With these words. French-Italian photographer Leo Principe, also known as Prince of the Amazon forest or the lost son of Tarzan, let me know we were being admitted to a secret ritual.