High Times Is Back. Here’s What We Built in 5.5 Months
High Times officially turned the lights back on July 16, 2025.
We didn’t relaunch anything. We reopened the site and started publishing again.
And pretty quickly, it became clear that the thing still worked. When the doors open and the work is real, people show up. Writers. Readers. Artists. Growers. Longtime supporters and people discovering High Times for the first time.
Consider this a mid-flight check-in. Here’s what we’ve been working on, with you in the room.
The Work: Publishing Again, Every Day
A big part of this year was reopening the pipeline. Submissions, pitches, ideas, drafts. Some from longtime voices, some from people publishing with us for the first time.
The goal wasn’t volume. It was openness. Letting the work come in, reading everything, and publishing what felt honest and worth sharing.
Since reopening, High Times has published more than 500 articles from over 100 contributors.
That includes reporting, interviews, essays, cultural pieces, and commentary. Some fast. Some long. Some deeply researched. Some personal. The point wasn’t uniformity. It was getting the work out and letting it breathe.
We also brought back the idea of a daily digital cover story, treating the homepage like a front page again. Not everything had to be breaking news. Some days it was about context. Some days reflection. Some days just telling a story that felt worth telling.
That rhythm mattered. It gave the site a pulse again.
Print: Back Where It Belongs
The return of the print magazine was one of the most meaningful moments of the year.
The 50th Anniversary Issue wasn’t built as a nostalgia project. It was built to reconnect the dots between where this magazine came from and where it’s going. Legacy voices alongside new ones. Archive alongside original reporting. A magazine meant to be held, not skimmed.
Thousands of copies went directly to readers, without a retail push or ad campaign. That alone said a lot.
Print is staying central to what we do. The next issue is already in production, and 2026 will include at least four collectible print editions, one per quarter, each with its own identity and focus. You can get a full-year subscription here.
Community: Where This Really Lives
If there’s one thing that defined these past months, it’s participation.
- Over 1,000 people applied for Editor-in-Kief
- 280+ joined our growing Contributor Network
- More than 200 people sent us their Nug Shots
That kind of response only happens when people feel invited in.
Nug Shots, in particular, became something special. Even with social platforms limiting cannabis imagery, people kept submitting. That alone says a lot.
You can see the full gallery here:
Video, Audio, and Voice
This year also marked the beginning of a broader High Times media presence.
We launched and developed:
The High Times Podcast with Josh Kesselman
Outlaw Stories with Holly Crawford
House of Haze with Javier Hasse
Rapper interviews with Shirley Ju
Animated shorts, including Stoned for Christmas and Don’t Be a Clown
Some of it is still evolving. That’s part of the process. High Times has never been about polish first. It’s about voice first.
More is coming, and it’s coming organically.
The Reality of Publishing Cannabis in 2025
It’s impossible to talk about this year without acknowledging the constraints.
Cannabis content is still heavily restricted online. Posts get throttled. Accounts get flagged. Entire topics are quietly suppressed.
Instead of watering things down, we leaned into the platforms we control: the website, email, print, and video.
It’s not perfect. But it’s honest.
Cannabis Cup: Building It Back the Right Way
This year also marked the return of the Cannabis Cup, with an emphasis on doing it carefully and with integrity.
- 1,500 judge kits sold
- 32 retailers involved
- 55 participating brands
- Most kits sold out within 48-72 hours
The goal isn’t scale for scale’s sake. It’s rebuilding trust and making sure the Cup reflects the culture it came from.
The next stop: New York, February 2026.
Digital Zine / Email
Alongside the site, we brought back the weekly email. You can subscribe here.
Simple by design. A snapshot of what we published, what we’re thinking about, and what’s worth your time. No algorithms. No noise. Just a direct line to the work.
Merch
We quietly brought the shop back online.
A small merch run. The anniversary issue. Limited drops.
Nothing mass-produced. Nothing rushed. Just extensions of the culture.
2026 will bring weekly drops!
GROBOT
We also launched GROBOT, an AI-powered grow assistant built to answer real cultivation questions, not sell products.
Thousands of conversations later, it’s become one of the most used things on the site — mostly by new growers looking for straightforward answers.
It’s still evolving, but the idea is simple: useful tools should be accessible, not hidden behind paywalls or hype.
Some of The Hottest Stories
A few of the pieces that defined the past five and a half months:
Are You Smoking Gas… or Gas Gas? Inside the Hydrocarbons That Built BHO
After the Green Rush: The Sungrown Holdouts of Northern California
Is a MAGA-Aligned Think Tank Using the Hemp Ban to Advance a New Federal War on Cannabis?
I Slammed a Bag of Edibles on My Lunch Break…and Somehow Ended up on the Leadership Team
Why Does ‘Nothingness’ Hit After the Party? Inside the Existential Hangover of the Post-Rager Crash
What Do Stoner Girls Carry in Their Purse? We’re Here, We’re Hot, We’re High AF
A 12-Year-Old Stoner in Reagan’s ‘Just Say No’ America
Trump Signs Shutdown Deal To Recriminalize Hemp, Starting A One-Year Race To Rewrite The Rules
Trees Grow in Brooklyn: A Rooftop Cannabis Garden Grown in Living Soil
Narco-Terror or Political Theater? Inside the U.S. War on Boats off Venezuela and Colombia
Unexpected Pleasures of Weed: The Strain That Turned My Husband Into a Clean Freak
Chaos in a Jar: Field-Testing Flower for Hash
High Times Strains Of The Month: October 2025
Here’s How Much Your Old ‘High Times’ Issues May Be Worth
Why You Shouldn’t Trust the Anti-Weed Lobby Smart Approaches to Marijuana
Puerto Rican Superstar Jon Z: ‘I’m Explosive… Cannabis Helps Me Relax and Think Things Through’
Is Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome Real? If So, Should It Be on Warning Labels?
This Is What We Mean When We Say ‘Legalize It’
Debunking Pot Potency Hysteria: The Truth About ‘Super-Strong’ Weed
When Cannabis Brands Blur Into Youth Culture, Regulators Notice: Lessons From Tobacco’s Past
It’s a Trap! Why Schedule III Could Be Worse Than Standing Still on Cannabis Reform
Cannabis Clubs vs. Gentrification: When Tourists Take Over Barcelona
10 Hard Truths Every Cannabis Breeder Learns
Falling Cannabis Prices Are A Boon For Consumers
Freedom Fighter Of The Month: Jason Washington’s Courageous Stand Against The Feds
Thailand Shrugs At Re-Prohibition: A Weed Critic’s Travel Diary
Long Flowering, Long Forgotten: Why Preserving Diversity Is The Future of Cannabis
Want Clean, Safe Cannabis? Home Grow And Legal Access Are The Answer
Wall Street Who? Cannabis Carves Its Own Path Without Big Finance
High Times Was The Most Influential Publication Of My Life
Nothing Made Me Trip Harder Than My HIV Pills
Is Cannabis Really Legal If You Can’t Grow Your Own Weed?
Why We’re Doing This
High Times has never just been a media company.
It’s been a place for ideas, arguments, art, information, humor, and resistance. A place where culture could live without being sanitized or packaged for approval.
We came back because that still matters.
For the community. For the conversations. For the people who care enough to show up.
Five and a half months in, we’re proud of what’s been built.
And we’re just getting started.
<p>The post High Times Is Back. Here’s What We Built in 5.5 Months first appeared on High Times.</p>
