It’s a big day! Change has come. At the bare minimum, on a very small scale, but change nonetheless. My name is Cody Lee. I’m the new Digital Editor here at High Times. It’s unbelievable that William S. Burroughs wrote for this magazine. I grew up idolizing him, and now here we are.
The first time I smoked weed, I was maybe 11 or 12 years old, with some older neighbors who also showed me how to wear rubber bands on my jeans. I didn’t get high because I swallowed the smoke instead of inhaling it, and no one believes me when I say this, but I swear I farted weed-smell for the next hour or two.
I smoked a little in high school, a lot in college. Now I smoke more than some people, less than others, which I think is a good place to be. I’m from Chicago, but moved to Los Angeles about seven months ago with my wife, Abbey.
One of the most beautiful things that I’ve seen so far in California was this painting by Giovanni Segantini at the Getty Museum. The fact that, at one point, it was a blank canvas makes no sense at all. (He also did the one up there ↑.)
Speaking of paintings, if you’ve never seen a Van Gogh in real life, or if it’s been a while, I highly recommend that you go look at one immediately. There’s really nothing like it.
Books are cool. If you like getting high, read poetry. You can think about one sentence for two hours, or read an entire book in the same amount of time. Either is acceptable. I just finished The Matrix by N.H. Pritchard and it was absolutely wild. His writing’s all about vibrations, and it reads like jazz or some weird, ambient trance stuff that you won’t want to put down.
Other than that, not much else is happening. I’m upset that people are still in jail for weed. I also find it strange that in most places, alcohol is legal, and there are a bunch of dudes fighting and throwing up all over the place—but weed isn’t.
My two main goals with this position are to at least get one so-called “criminal” out of prison, and adjust the settings so that if you can choose to get black-out drunk, you could choose to eat an edible and watch a movie instead.
I’m going to do what I can to fix what I consider broken, and along the way I’ll talk about life, art, probably space, and whatever else comes to mind. I’m sure I’ll mention some things that you consider “old news,” but I hope to introduce you to some new stuff as well.
However, at the end of the day, the whole reason we’re here is to learn about this mysterious plant. And I’m excited that we get to embark on this journey together.
Thank you for reading. I appreciate your time. Now do me a favor and burn one to my man King Tubby.
Welcome Cody Lee, I hope you can help keep people from going to prison for smoking, or at least get one cannabis consumer out of prison. Now all you have to do is get our lawmakers to admit they made a mistake when it comes to the cannabis plant, DEA and prohibition. Good Luck.
I like the mother and child portrait, and I appreciate you taking the time to introduce yourself in this manner. I think often people in your role are faceless names at the bottom of a scrolling page. Good luck with your new position, I look forward to interesting reads, new and old music and art and of course more stories on this much maligned plant that offers healing, hope and entertainment.