New streets, new stories. Printed proof the culture’s still alive—city by city, toke by toke.
DENVER NO.1 MARCH-APRIL 2026
STATE OF PSYCHEDELICS WITH ATTORNEY SEAN MCALLISTER .................... 16 KEEF: THE BROTHERS BEHIND THE EMPIRE .................... 22 FROM THE VAULT: THE SAGE OF SOMA ............... 39
EDITORS NOTE ................. 6 HIGHWITNESS NEWS .............................. 11 HIGH 5VES ................... 20 ASK ED .................. 37 HIGH TIMES ZINE ..................... 27 .............. 28 .................... 29 DIRECTORY ... 60 .......................... 62 COUPONS .......... 65-106 ................. ....................... ........................... ................ ....................................... .....................
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5 MARCH/APRIL 2026
PUBLISHER NATHAN JOHNSON
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two months. The issue was again tied to a banned pes- ticide, with some batches recalled directly and oth- ers swept in because they were grown around the same time. If your page needs “drug news but not tragic,” Colorado recalls are basically a genre now. HEMP TUG-OF-WAR - Colorado is also teeing up a classic drug-policy con- tradiction: federal tighten- ing, state loosening. Axios Denver reported a federal spending bill included a provision that would ef- fectively clamp down on many hemp-derived THC/ CBD products by setting a very low THC cap per pack- age, while Colorado advo- cates were drafting a bill to loosen state rules on hemp beverages. Axios reported current Colorado law limits hemp-derived THC drinks and requires a CBD-to- THC ratio, while the pro- posed changes would allow stronger products to be sold anywhere alcohol is sold. LEADVILLE CONTACT-HI - A cannabis and CBD shop in Leadville caught fire in December, and the smoke got bad enough that officials issued an air-quality alert for people within about a half-mile. Denver7 re- ported nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution, residents were told to stay inside or wear N95s, and the local elementary school canceled outdoor activi- ties. Real emergency, very predictable internet jokes.
SHROOMS, SKIS & FALSE ALARM - Summit County’s sheriff blotter delivered a very Colorado entry when a woman called for help near Cucumber Gulch af- ter saying her boyfriend had fallen while skiing and was injured. Depu- ties responded, but later determined he wasn’t ac- tually hurt. According to the sheriff’s “Justice Files,” the woman appeared to be under the influence of psy- chedelic mushrooms and other drugs, which caused confusion about what had happened. Deputies stayed with the pair until they could arrange a sober ride instead of turning the whole thing into a bigger disaster. STORAGE WARS: FENTAN- YL EDITION - In one of the most “you can’t make this up” Colorado drug busts of the year, a person who le- gally bought a storage unit at auction opened it and called cops after finding what looked like narcotics. DEA and Douglas County officials said the unit con- tained about 1.7 million counterfeit fentanyl pills, plus 12 kilograms of fen- tanyl powder and a smaller amount of methamphet- amine — the largest one- time counterfeit pill seizure in Colorado history, accord- ing to authorities. The un- paid unit reportedly went to auction after its original owner was arrested earlier. METH IN THE VEGGIE BOX - CPR reported a re- cord Colorado meth inves-
tigation that sounds like a cartel-themed produce aisle fever dream: au- thorities said they found 733 pounds of metham- phetamine in a Lakewood home, with quarter-pound bundles hidden in boxes of pair squash imported from Mexico. The broader case led to 15 federal indict- ments, and officials said more than 1,000 pounds of meth was ultimately seized during the inves- tigation. Also seized, per CPR’s report: cash, guns, and other drugs includ- ing cocaine and fentanyl. NEW YEAR’S EVE RECALL PARTY - Colorado’s weed industry closed out 2025 with a giant “happy new year, now check your la- bels” moment. Westword and CBS Colorado reported a state recall tied to pesti- cide concerns hit products sold by one company to nearly 300 dispensaries statewide (Westword re- ported 295 stores). The recalled products included vape cartridges and in- fused pre-rolls, and regu- lators said affected batches had contamination issues that exceeded legal lim- its. Not exactly the count- down anyone wanted. RECALLS: SEASON 2 - Colorado started 2026 by immediately doing more recall content. Westword reported the state’s first cannabis recall of the year hit 19 dispensaries, and noted it was already the eighth recall in just over
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FROM WEED LOUNGE TO SHROOM LOUNGE - Den- ver’s Coffee Joint — the country’s first licensed can- nabis lounge — just closed and is now pivoting into a psilocybin healing/event space. Westword reported the owners surrendered the cannabis consumption license because Colora- do law doesn’t allow the same address to hold both cannabis and psilocybin licenses at once. The new concept, AlmaDose, is aim- ing for legal microdose ses- sions and events like yoga and art. Colorado busi- ness model translation: from smoke sesh to super- vised mushroom vibes. 4/20 GOT TOO FESTIVE - A Denver cannabis lounge was recently fined $10,000 after city officials said last year's 4/20 event crossed the line from party to com- pliance nightmare. West- word reported Tetra was accused of allowing ads for psychedelics like psilocy- bin and DMT, plus alleged cannabis “samples” and other licensing violations. The city ultimately im- posed the fine and a pro- bation period with bigger penalties if more viola- tions happen. In Colorado, the difference between “community event” and “regulatory case study” can apparently be one en- thusiastic vendor table. SEND US YOUR WEIRD STORY - Got a hilarious or unforgettable Colorado weed, mushroom, or drug story? Send tips, links, or your own story to news@ local.hightimes.com. We want the weird stuff. Continued from previous pag e
HIGHTIMES ON YOUTUBE
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TELL US YOUR WILD ONE Are you an [undiscovered] High Times Local legend? Got a legendary smoke sesh story? A trip that went sideways (or changed your life)? A crazy arrest story from back in the day? A homemade bong masterpiece? We want the juicy stuff. Real stories from real people to print in future editions. We’re also taking pics of homegrow setups, beautiful buds, and homemade smoking appara- tus (the weirder/brillianter, the better). Send your content to: news@local.hightimes.com Subject line: MY WILD ONE
STATE OF PSYCHEDELICS With Sean McAllister by the Editors Former cannabis attorney and leading psychedelics law ex- pert Sean McAllister explains how Colorado is once again the "Wild West," leading the country at an exciting time.
including LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, mes- caline, and others psychedelics are un- der some form of clinical trial. What about Colorado’s program? Right now it's psilocybin only in the regulated program. They've proposed adding iboga to the regulated system. It could be as early as next year or 2027 if everything was clean this year. Could be later. So by 2028 in Colorado we'll have regulated psilocybin and regulated iboga in healing centers. Again, it's expensive. $2,000 to 4,000 a journey for psilocybin. Iboga is probably going to be much more than that because there'll be a significant amount of medical monitoring around it. So that's in regulated Colorado. But the revolutionary thing we did in Colorado is we decriminalized four psy- chedelics, not just two: psilocybin, mes- caline (other than peyote, so San Pedro cactus are now decriminalized in Colora- do), DMT in all of it’s naturally occurring forms, and iboga. So for all four of those– there's no synthetics allowed–but nat- urally occurring psilocybin, mescaline, DMT, and iboga are legal to possess and
This country has come a long way in psychedelics. Where are we at the moment, and what’s the outlook? As we know, all the classic psyche- delics are schedule one substances under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, and at the Federal level, the only psychedelic legal is ketamine. So that's why there's this proliferation of ketamine clinics around the country. Generally, it's recommended you should be under some kind of medical supervision when you're taking it. Ketamine's technically approved for an anesthetic–not for men- tal health conditions–but doctors and other prescribing medical professionals are prescribing it off-label for medical health conditions. It's in phase three clin- ical trials. People think in three to five years, we'll have MDMA federally, legally prescribed for treatment-resistant depression, and other mental health conditions. Psilo- cybin, also in phase-three clinical trials, three to five years, federally legal. We’ll have psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine and maybe others. All of classic psychedelics
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programs are the ones that are literally sitting with people during the experience, providing real services. And there might be a way you could provide education. Come in, talk to me, I'll teach you how to use mushrooms. You pay me $50 and I give you free mushrooms. But that's an area to talk to a lawyer about. But that's an example of why it is the freest place in the nation, Colorado. Are any other states close behind? New Mexico just passed a regulated psilocybin program. It's going to be only for specific medical conditions. So Colo-
cultivate for every adult over 21. For three of those psychedelics, every adult over 21 can share them for no money legally. So distribution with no money for psilocybin, mescaline and DMT. How are they administered? We have a kind of gray area called this “harm reduction work” in Colorado where people can give away the three psyche- delics, mescaline, psilocybin, DMT, and be paid for bona fide harm reduction services related to the sharing of that medicine. So I represent a lot of people in that area doing retreats and medicine
rado, you don't have to have any specific con- dition. Any of us can go to a healing center. You want to work on seeing your mom who died three years ago, whatever the issue is, you can go. No issue at all if you want to ex- plore your conscious- ness in Colorado. And that's the same in Oregon. No medical condition required, with a regulated psi- locybin program only. There is no decrimi- nalization in Oregon
work, and there are opportunities to earn a living without being in the regulated model in Colorado. You could also go with the regulated pathway. In the regulated world in Colorado, to be a facilitator, you can be a therapist or a doc- tor, but you don't have to be. You can be any person with 150 hours of training and you can become a facilita- tor (someone licensed to administer natural medicines). In the un-
...It is the most exciting time in history – at least since
decriminalization – for psychedelics...
anymore. They took that away. So it's actually not legal to possess any psy- chedelic in Oregon outside of a service center. But in the Oregon service centers, you can get psilocybin healing, you know, $2,000 to $4,000 a journey. In New Mexico, they're requiring specific diagnosis of medical conditions. There's also no widespread decriminalization.
regulated decriminalized world, there's no licensing. So anybody over 21 could share medicine and be paid for services. It can be very risky and dangerous in the unregulated world if you aren’t care- ful. Some people have gotten warning letters and cease and desist letters. If all you're doing is selling a product, you're violating the law. The best decriminalized
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Is that due to the costs of healing centers? Is there a path to expand consciousness on a budget (but le- gally - other than growing their own)? Yes, regulated psilocybin is expensive at this time, usually $2k-4500 for a single session with prep and integration. The cheapest path is the work in the [decrim- inalized] area where people can share medicine for free and be paid for harm re- duction services like trip sitting. You can likely find a sitter who will share medicine in the unregulated personal use world for a few hundred dollars. The only state that really allows broad access is Colorado with its decriminal- ization. You can grow mushrooms at home for 20-30 bucks. And that's why we have the most progressive broadspread access of anybody in the country. What goes on at healing centers that makes them legitimate? Is it just ob- servation or is there more customiza- tion? 150 hours of training, licensing, and oversight if people misbehave. The whole difference of regulated healing centers is accountability. The state regulates heal- ing centers and can punish bad actors. Are there any unheard-of psychedel- ics just emerging as a new frontier? Do you have any opinion on synthet- ics, or any other non-natural alterna- tives? There are many unheard of or novel psychedelics emerging in the church world. Whether they could achieve rec- ognition with these substances is a case by case assessment. If a substance has a similar chemical structure and effect as a controlled substance, it would be con-
Everywhere, they're talking about these topics. I think Maryland just recommend- ed psilocybin regulated at the state lev- el. New Jersey, I think, passed a bill. I'm not sure if it's final yet. Texas created a study project on iboga. Utah has a psi- locybin study project. So you see a lot of progress around the country, but I would say that the haters are trying to turn psy- chedelics into a medicine and put it in a medical context. That's why they want studies in Utah and Texas with medical supervision. And that's going to push us farther into this bifurcated, rich-get psychedelics-poor-don't. Until we have broadspread decriminalization around the country, it's going to still be tough for people without a lot of money to get ac- cess to it. I would say this is definitely the psyche- delic renaissance. I say the word renais- sance on purpose, because remember, the Renaissance was a time for rich peo- ple to have access to nice things. And so clearly rich people don't have any prob- lem with access to psychedelics in the US and we can go to Mexico and Costa Rica and Jamaica and Holland and right here in the US we could spend thousands of dollars on psilocybin journeys. STATE OF PSYCHEDELICS continued from page 17
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sidered an analogue and illegal. But the law assesses the subjective mental state of the producer to decide if they can be prosecuted. So in a weird way, the more ignorant you are, the better. In the same way that alcohol pushed back on cannabis and big cannabis pushed on hemp, do you feel like there's any sort of forces like that that you're up against as well? Well, you mentioned this reduction in cannabis, but I think this is an interest- ing time. People are drinking less. I think they're actually smoking less cannabis. And psychedelics are viewed as a health- ier alternative. I can use it a couple times a year. I'm not smoking something every day. But yes, I think it's more because the actual addictive nature of psychedelics is one of the lowest of all. There really is no addictive nature, except maybe psycho- logical addiction. But the consequences of a bad trip are very high. So because of those consequences, the biggest op- ponent to broadspread decriminalization and legalization is the medical communi- ty saying, just like they said with canna- bis, this is going to make you crazy, make you psychotic. For the novice, how do you recom- mend starting with psychedelics? An experienced guide or church. Start low, go slow. Read the full interview at HighTimesLocal.com
Chariot’s guided psilocybin journeys are offered in serene environments, careful- ly appointed for your comfort. We engage a highly-qualified, diverse network of fa- cilitators, and provide a safe container for your journey. In each of our centers, we cultivate supportive and client-centered spaces, thoughtfully designed to feel as welcoming as home while ensuring the se- renity needed to foster deep inner exploration. Since opening our doors as one of the first legal service centers in Portland, Oregon in 2023, we’ve had the privilege of supporting well over a thousand clients on their healing and growth journeys. Every session, every conversation, and every moment of trust they’ve placed in us has helped shape who we are today, and we’re profoundly grateful. Chariot was built on a simple yet deep- ly held belief: that people deserve a safe, welcoming, and compassionate space to explore the benefits of psilocybin. Over the past couple of years, our team has refined its practices, strengthened our safety frame- works, and gained invaluable experi- ence walking alongside those we serve. We deeply value this collective learning. Chariot’s second location is now open in Boulder! We’re committed to bringing the same warmth, professionalism, and in- tegrity Chariot is known for to Colorado. JOURNEYS AT CHARIOT
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WHEN RUN-D.M.C. were still in dia- pers, James Brown, the greatest rap- per of all time, was talking shit like no- body’s business. People tend to think he just had great hair or great clothes or great sweat, but what really made his later records so good was his incredi- ble personal logic; a logic that denied the existence of a world outside his grooves. And if he sometimes seemed stupid—well, people also tend to forget that James Brown is a great comedian. James Browns' Greatest Raps by John Leland
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1 3 2 “Dig this. Do you feel alright? Feel pret- ty good myself. Now look here, I got a little groovemaker, something I’d like to do, since, we’re here, we might as well get the best out of it. If it’s all night it’s alright. Looka here. Are you ready band? Dancers, are you ready? Are you ready audience? You ready Flames? You ready again? Building, is you ready, because we gonna tear you down! I hope the building can stand all this soul, because it sure got a lot coming on.” —from "I Feel Alright” (Live at the Apollo) “Now me and the boys just taking a walk, rapping a little and having a talk. In comes this chick with blouse and jeans and man, was she slick. But looka here, I wanna tell you one more time in case you can’t see. Hey, Ray Charles, loo- ka here. You see it wasn’t the size that caught my eyes, but what made me real- ize, for goodness sakes, Stevie Wonder, did you see those cakes? Good God, do it again. Stevie, me and you been hang- ing out for a long time, brother, I know how you feel. Stevie told me one night, said man did you see those cakes? I was walking down the avenue one night and brother Ray Charles came over to me and said Brown, I don’t know what you doing laying over there but did you see those cakes? Looka here. Everybody see those cakes.” —from "Look at Those Cakes” (Look at Those Cakes) “Look here. I gotta get up and do my thing. Okay, let me kinda move these things around here, so I can get up and do my thing, understand? Uh, can I re- ally get into it? Can I get into the thing really? Like a sex machine? Moving? Doing it? Can I get into it? Can I get it all out of the thing? Are you ready to get into it? I’m gonna count it off then. One two three four.” —from "Get Up I Feel Like Being Like a Sex Machine” (Sex Machine) * * * Continue reading at archive.HighTimes.com
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the BROTHERS KEEF by e Editors H igh Times has always been about more than just the plant; it’s about the people who risked every- thing to get us here. The Knut- son brothers—Erik, Kelly, and Scot—aren't just executives; they are a cross-section of the move- ment's history: The Pioneer, The Engineer, and The Warrior. Con- sidered the largest THC beverage company in America, this family of Colorado natives is a household name. They're famous for their fabulous tasting sodas, Canna- bis Cup victories, and a storied local legacy that goes back to the very first dispensaries. We sat down to talk about the histo- ry of Keef, best memories, and their new charity arm, Karma.
A COLORADO BEGINNING High Times: How long have you lived in Colorado? Kelly : It's rare that there's actual locals, but we're several-generation locals. Scot : Yeah. We grew up in Boulder, Col- orado. Erik and I went to Boulder High. Kelly went to Fairview because our moms both saw what happened with us at Boul- der High. Erik : Both sides of the family actually are born and raised in Boulder after WWII. High Times: How did you guys get into making cola? You were into construction? Erik : Scotty had joined the Marine Corps. What was that? 2007? Yeah, by '09, it was pretty slim pickings. All the banks stopped lending. Cannabis had always been a part of all of our lives. I mean, I probably sold my first bag in like ‘96, mostly just to fund my own smoking. I think all of us dabbled in a little bit of sell- ing early on. And obviously with the family business, went into construc- tion, the crash came, everything. By about that summer of ‘09, Kelly and I were looking for anything to do. And that was when we started really looking into medical cannabis and the patient caregiver thing. A bunch of our buddies, start- ed getting cards. I think we start- ed building out what's now Green Dream in Boulder in October of ‘09. Opened that in December and yeah, pretty similar story, we had that thing open and there was just no products. I mean, I'd see some brownies. Not even any gummies at that point. Just all flower. That was when our marketing
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guy from the construction side knew what we were doing and we were all just sitting around brainstorming. He had picked up his book called Marijuana Drinks which had nothing to do with marijuana drinks actually. I don't know what the hell the book was about even to this day, and it kind of snowballed into what we have as Keef. So we started making the first prod-
me I could never smoke it.” Just sucked it down. She was probably 87 at the time. Then they were our first or second inves- tors. High Times: Did she get a little happy, loopy afterwards? Erik: She was pretty happy. She was smart, man. She was sharp. She believed in us… it's a family business to this day.
ucts in all of our garages, kind of rotat- ing into kitchens and by January we had live product in our dispensary in Boulder, the first one it was sold at, and then from there it just snowballed fast. By the end of that first year, I think we were in a little over a thousand dispensaries. And just pulling our hair. High Times: We've heard stories that you first offered some to your grandma? Scot : Yeah, she loved it. We'd bring her over cases at the end. Erik : Obviously switching over from con- struction to selling weed, the first thing Kelly and I had to do, is go tell Grandma and Grandpa we weren't building homes anymore. We didn't want them to hear it through someone else. So we went over there. I think we had a couple bottles of root beer and orange, with shiny labels on it. We walked in and kind of set them down on the table. Grandma picked the root beer out, started looking at it. We're telling them, "All right, hey, we're not do- ing construction anymore. We're doing this marijuana drink thing." She literally turns to our grandpa, turns to us and just cracked it and started drinking it. And looked right at him and goes, "You told
We work with our dad still, and our mom. Our grandparents, God rest their souls, are all gone now, but they all believed in us. Scot : And we came from, on both sides, family businesses. On our dad's side, the construction real estate side, was a fam- ily business. Same thing on our mom's side, Leanin’ Tree Greeting Cards , which was a western greeting card company and an art museum that our Grandpa Trumble started after World War II, that our whole family worked at. We grew up in that family business mentality and tak- ing care of the family, taking care of our workers. Same principles and guidelines that we keep today, and I think we're very fortunate to sit here and look at all of the cannabis companies that have come and gone and even some of the family ones that were there. And we're one of the very few that's left, going on 16 years now as a family-owned business. It's super im- pressive. GROWING NEW ROOTS High Times: Back then Keef was one the very first branded and well-packaged edibles in the industry. What are some of your fondest memories of the early days?
Erik: The first big hash material run that I made was down to Pueblo, which at the time was Marisol Therapeutics. Mike’s was the second dispensary ever opened in the state, and we met him at Canna- con. He's like, "Come down to Pueblo, man. I'll show you what's up. I got plen- ty of material for you guys." I drive down there in an [Acura] MDX, I got plenty of room, get down there, I follow him out to this big outdoor grow on his property. He
properly used within this market. A lot of the scary stuff that happened in the early days was done by people that didn't know what they were doing. High Times: We can only imagine the hurdles you've jumped to expand to over 30 states. Is that right? Erik: Yes. At this point, we're 13 regulat- ed markets with Keef and then 18 on the hemp side. So yeah, about 31 total state coverage at this point.
takes me into the barn and literally throws like 300 lbs into this MDX. Dude, every square this thing was loaded with bags. At this point, I'm like, "Fuck, dude. All I have is patient cards. If I’m pulled over. I'm gone." I tried to drive all the way back to Boulder, 300 lbs. Can't even see out my passenger
High Times: How do you manage such a huge operation? Erik: Luckily we've got a great team both in Colorado and Keef nationally. It's a beast. Without the ground work laid by Andy Ve- ron in Colorado and nationally the Keef team is run by Matt and Blake, and they've done an amazing job
I tried to drive all the way back to Boulder, 300 lbs . Can't even see out my passenger side.
side. I'm pretty sure I pulled over like two or three times to make sure I wasn't get- ting followed. Then back to Kelly to col- lect our hash. Kelly: Oh, yeah. Some of the fun from my perspective on the product and devel- opment side was dealing with all of the vendors and having to tiptoe around what you actually do. Scot: Speaking of, Erik still can't even get a Chase credit card. High Times: Back then everyone was blasting butane in back and stirring things together in mom's Pyrex. How did it go from people almost blowing up their garages to high-tech equipment? Kelly: A lot of it was technology that existed already, that just needed to be
of expanding over the years. I've known Matt since age 13. Danny's been with us since 2010. We have multiple employees and partners that we work with that I've known since pre-high school in Boulder. So, this industry is tough, man. And it's really led us to some hard roads, but also really deep friendships with a lot of peo- ple. You have to be able to trust in this industry. A VETERAN'S EXPERIENCE SHAPES BELIEFS High Times: Scot, can you tell us about the time when you returned from deploy- ment and were prescribed a bunch of
meds from the VA, and how that shaped your path to Keef? Scot : I'm happy to talk about that. I was a Marine Corps EOD tech, so a bomb dis- posal technician. Our primary mission in Afghanistan or Iraq was to disarm impro- vised explosive devices. Without going into detail I had a couple close calls where I'm happy to be here. I was in a lot of pain coming out of the Marines and, not just physical pain, but also mental pain. I had probably 16 different medications that I was prescribed coming out of there for sleep, for depression, anxiety, pain. So, I was on Oxy and they'd give me bottles of 360 of them at a time and I can say, "Oh, I lost that one." And they just send me another one in the mail. Pretty easy to. Oxy was the most addictive sub- stance I’ve ever used and, yeah, I was popping 20 to 30 pills a day at one point. One night I was unconscious on the floor in my apartment and if not for the peo- ple in my life I would have killed myself. At that point I made the decision to stop and get help through the VA. With the help of my community of friends and focusing on helping others I'm 8 years sober from Oxy. For me it was the first time in, really, three years that I'd felt pain and had lucid dreams that spiraled me into dealing with my PTSD. So all of that compounding down at me at once, utilizing plant med- icine, and a mixture of psychedelic mush- rooms, it helped me come to terms with my trauma and look at life through a new lens. I was micro-dosing and taking larger doses as I felt more comfortable with it as well as for pain management. Lots of CBD and THC to help. And that got me through some of the harder times of that phase of my life, so I do believe in plant medicine. And I'm happy to see where it's going on both fronts, both the psychedelics and in the cannabis space. And looking at our mantra and how we operate and even, how I pivoted from am- phibious assault to EOD, if I'm going to do something, how can I affect the larg- est change in whatever it is that I'm doing for the better of what I'm trying to to work towards? THE BROTHERS KEEF
CHARITY, RSO, KARMA & THINGS THAT MATTER High Times: Can you tell us about Kar- ma, your new charitable brand initiative? Scot: We launched Karma mainly in Ne- vada last year with an RSO and an infused pre-roll that's 50% crumble and 50% full flower. It's one of the strongest ones in the market. Fifty to 60% THC. We give a portion of it back to chari- ties. We gave back $17,000 to Volunteers for Medicine last year, a local nonprofit that anybody can walk in off the street, who qualifies for, a certain threshold of income, and get free healthcare. Every- thing from surgeries to day-to-day things, dental, you name it. This year, tied to my being a veteran, we're doing the Charlie Mike Foundation in Nevada, helping keep veterans off of the streets. So, it's really a way for us, giving back to the commu- nities that we've built on, and actually in- volving people in some charity programs. That’s how we're the number one RSO in Nevada. We've actually doubled the size of the RSO market. Kelly: Yeah, especially with the reclas- sification, that hopefully is going to be coming here and moving towards trials and actual medical research. I think RSO is going to have a strong place. It sounds like this is just the beginning? Erik: From day one, we've really tried to give back as much as we could. Wheth- er that's, product to, working with legis- lators across the country to help expand laws. I was one of the co-founders of ATACH in 2014 with Michael Bronstein. We worked with regulators and legisla- tors and probably a dozen East Coast states to help legalize cannabis. And then helped a lot of other states that had pro- grams already going, to help dial in what those rules should look like, to help make it friendlier for business and for patients. That's always been kind of a part of what we've done, to help expand access of this plant. And I think Karma is that fi- nal legacy. We have a real opportunity, I think, to give back, and I couldn't be more excited for it. Read the full interview at HighTimesLocal.com
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Nothing Ventured. Nothing Gained Bob Weir and the Culture That Got There First
T his piece is, first and foremost, a tribute to Bob Weir, and to a life spent creating, persisting, and refusing stasis. It reflects on the influence of an artist whose impact was not confined to charts, movements, or moments, but unfolded over decades through presence, continuity, and an un- common willingness to keep going. Weir’s work, approach, and longevity shaped not only a musical lineage but a way of partic- ipating in culture that favored openness over control and evolution over preserva- tion. Viewed through that lens, the story also traces the evolution of cannabis from informal social practice to regulated com- mercial enterprise, and the tensions that transformation has produced. It consid- ers how cannabis culture was sustained long before it was monetized, how com- munity-based norms differ from institu- tional frameworks, and how scale, cap- ital, and compliance can both legitimize and distort what they seek to protect. In- terwoven are reflections on risk, longevi- ty, decentralization, and influence without authority, while using Bob Weir’s path as a reference point for understanding what the cannabis industry has gained, what it has compromised, and what lessons may still be recoverable. “ The bus came by and I got on—that’s when it all began .” Before cannabis was regulated, brand- ed, taxed, and debated in committee rooms, it lived where Bob Weir lived: in parking lots and passenger vans, in half- lit arenas and muddy fields, passed hand to hand with the same unspoken trust as a lighter or a lyric. For the Grateful Dead, cannabis wasn’t a cause or a commodity, it was part of the shared language of curi- osity, patience, and community. Bob Weir
didn’t preach it. He inhabited it. And in doing so, he helped nor- malize a culture long before the law ever caught up. It was 1963, and Bob Weir was sixteen years old when he met Jer-
by Bob Hoban
ry Garcia at Jerry Morgan’s Music Store in Palo Alto, California. Jerry was playing the banjo; Bobby heard the sweet sounds. Bobby walked in, leading to a marathon jam session and the start of their musical journey together. Bob was just a kid with Over more than six decades, Bob Weir never stopped. The band kept playing on. a guitar and an instinct. That accidental meeting didn’t just spark a band; rather, it ignited a culture, a community, and a way of thinking that would ripple through American music, counterculture, and cannabis history for decades. The Grateful Dead didn’t arrive fully formed. Neither did the movement that grew around them. It was improvised, communal, messy, joyful, and defiantly human. Bob Weir would become one of the most singular rhythm guitarists ever to stand on a stage; his rhythm guitar playing is isolated in numerous online recordings; take a listen…mind-blow- ing. He was angular, conversational ... Continue reading at HighTimes.com
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by Lucas Indrikovs Photo by Emily Eizen T he founder of Cu- linary & Cannabis didn’t wait for the industry to make room for her. She built her own. For decades, cannabis was a weapon. A pretext for prejudice, a set of hand- cuffs dressed up as pub- lic safety, a battering ram through the front doors of Black and Brown homes. The communities that got hit hardest by that weapon are the same ones the legal Tamara Anderson Is Not Here to Ask Permission
industry now courts with marketing budgets and influencer campaigns, while the damage done and the dollars chased exist in the same breath, with almost no reckoning in between. Most people who understood what that weapon did stayed the hell away from anything connected to it, but Tamara Anderson walked straight toward it—RN badge and pastry knife in hand—and de- cided to turn the whole damn thing inside out. Before she was running luxury cannabis wellness events across Southern Califor- nia. Before shipping DIY topical kits to pandemic-locked strangers who needed something to do with their hands besides washing them in fear. Before command- ing rooms at Grammy Week with CBD massages and trauma-informed healing conversations— She was watching people get sick. Not from cannabis. Sick from the medi- cine that was supposed to help them. Eleven years on the administrative and financial side of healthcare before nurs- ing school, watching insurance adjust-
ers decide who got cared for and who deserved to rust on the wrong side of a deductible. Anderson watched, up close, what long-term pharmaceutical “treat- ments” actually did to a human body. In some cases, that was liver damage or addiction, even changes in personality. The slow, grinding cost of being managed rather than healed. “From the very start of my nursing ca- reer,” Anderson says, “it has been my mission to change the way we approach healthcare.” She tried to change it from inside the system first. But she quickly realized, somewhere between the machinery and the bureaucracy, the human element got swallowed up whole. It always does. Systems aren’t built acci- dentally. So Anderson did what you do when someone decides you’re not worthy of a seat at their table. She built her own table. And made it beautiful enough that people cross state lines for a seat ... Continue reading at HighTimes.com
28 MARCH/APRIL 2026
by Kyle Eustice I saac Brock is holed up in his Port- land studio, Ice Cream Party, which is essentially a multi-level play- ground for musicians. Surround- ed by a collection of guitars, an array of colorful pedals and a treasure trove of Modest Mouse ephemera, Brock cracks a Guinness, a beer he says he only drinks during interviews. Before he finishes the first sip, he’s interrogated about when the next Modest Mouse album will be re- leased: “Well, it’s gonna be about an hour behind because of this interview, but it’s coming along well.” His quick wit, typically sprinkled with a tinge of irreverence, is what makes Brock’s lyrics so clever. Even the album titles—The Lonesome Crowded West, Strangers to Ourselves, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank and Good News For People Who Love Bad News— are soaked in sagacity. The next Modest Mouse album, the fol- low-up to 2021’s The Golden Casket, is nearly done; Brock explains he’s tasked with shaving the final project down by 10 songs to make the “best record” out of what he has in his arsenal, although he won’t be taking any psychedelic mush- rooms to complete the process. “That would not be helpful,” he says. “I need to be hearing it as it would be heard… by maybe sober people.” For the past several years, Modest Mouse has leaned heavily into its mush- room-friendly aesthetic. The band’s new collaboration with Souldier, Brock’s pre- ferred guitar strap company, is adorned with images of poisonous fly agaric ’shrooms and eyeballs with multi-colored rays coming out of them—not exactly subtle. Brock, a mushroom connoisseur, admit- The Good Times Didn’t Kill him After All: Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock on Mushrooms and New Music
tedly took a handful of them on Thanks- giving, “laughed a little harder than usu- al” and then went to bed. He had some vivid dreams, but it was somewhat un- derwhelming as far as trips go. It paled in comparison to his first trip at 18, when he wound up with a permanent reminder of that day. “My first time was the best one of the best times,” he recalls. “It was acid, and apparently it was really, really good acid... Continue reading at HighTimes.com
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at the Disco Show By Rolv Harris Illustrations by Justin Redmon
T he publisher thrust the little booklets into my hand. I had to blink a few times. ey were violet, with a white ower. e Orchid Suite , it said, “O cial Aerparty Of e Emjays - International Cannabis Awards,” Presented by Green Rebates. Enjoy your stay.
“And you need us to… go… to this party?” “Not everyone has those tickets, they’re extra and they’re expensive” he told me. “Do you think you’ll have any problems getting there?” ere could be a slight problem. Mention the impending mushroom trip?… Or maybe not.
30 MARCH/APRIL 2026
“Harris,” he said. “Don’t lose them. Each one has a key. ey’ll get you in. Just make it to the party. It’s all over at midnight.” Easy for him, of course. He and the rest of the magazine team were already leaving for San Diego, before the convention was even over … but I couldn’t blame them. ere was hardly any reason to stick around Vegas, even for the “biggest night in cannabis.” As everyone else packed and headed for the exits, my two associates – caddies, really – stared at me with wild eyes. We hadn’t ex- pected this one last assignment, much less, one that began in ve hours. I’d already assumed there was nothing else to add to the rotten story of MJ BizCon 2025–other than consolatory footnotes. So condent were we that the feature had killed itself, that the three of us, only minutes before, had downed full “very strong” doses of “metocin” tablets
had our sunglasses… Cars came in one tunnel and le the other, both sides. A lady in yellow uniform told us to pick a destination. Encore? Resorts World? GPS was failing us here in the subterranean. We were a mile and half from our hotel, and yet the Hyperloop could only deliver us to other locations at least that far. Well, why not? I have an old friend who wisely calls this “ knowking yourself” – those times when you fuck yourself, and know that you’re fucking yourself in that moment, but choose to do it anyway . As the timer counted down, so too did our tolerance for this Wonka Factory holding cell. Everything, so straight and simple and modular – yet all lights and shadows zigzag- ging in imposing sine waves. Brighter, louder,
the dissonance grew. I felt compelled to bound back up the escalators and out of the mouth of civilization before it closed above us… but our car arrived. Our driver was in his late 50’s. Like us – interestingly – he donned sunglasses to drive the tunnels. It t; the Tesla's operating system was that of a small rocket, a dashboard of computer screens. e larg- est was split between vehicle status monitor, and (much larger) space dedicated to an ad for the “Power Lunch” at
In the September, 1977 So confident were we that the feature had killed itself, that the three of us, only minutes before, had downed full “very strong” doses of “meto- cin” tablets purchased from a guy named Judd over by the Advanced Nutrients trailer.
purchased from a guy named Judd over by the Advanced Nutrients trailer. To be fair, Judd’s operation seemed legit. e packages said Xüm, Beyond Mush- rooms . A bona de, unsched- uled, psilocybin “twin.” ey made it very easy to microdose all the way up to macrodose. We’d all macro- dosed. I couldn’t speak for the other two, but I was also 30
minutes deep into 100mg of hash tabs. Instinct now told me to nd a safe pocket to keep the tickets: It was nearly 4 o’clock on ursday aernoon, and we were about to get hammered beyond our control. Enjoy Your Stay. We pushed outside. December heat, nice sun aer a few dismal days… too many people in all directions. I don’t remember how we got there, but at some point one of us said, let's try the Tesla Loop. Why not, nally duck down into the huge wormhole we’d been skirting around all week? At least to escape the “Cow- boy Christmas” stampede spilling out from the other hall. ey all looked like they’d own in straight from the ranch in Scottsdale. Rolling down the LVCC Station escalator was a formal descent into madness, riding the assembly line at the candy factory, all sounds mashing into a reverberating buzz in this weird techno purgatory. Long rows of slow, cross-fading neon lights like a shiing rainbow added the martian touch. ank God, we still
Resorts World. We departed into a blank palette, driving down a long hose, a cardboard roll. Not the kind of place you’d want to be in a power out- age. No doors. No room on either side of the precisely Tesla-width road, no place to dash to safety aer a collision… these are things occur- ing to you as you zip around the blind curves, that if all this shut down at any moment, we’d be fucked. All we could do was trust the car. At least it had a driver. Racing 40mph felt like 80, especially with non-stop hypercolors fading into each other. Post Malone singing “Better Now”... this was Fortnite incarnate. e entire experience was clearly designed to optimize a ketamine trip. Just like an amusement park ride, you bullet straight towards a rugged cement wall, turning just in time, as other cars follow a return route mere inches away. We popped up, seemed to hover o the ground as we caught a view of the Fountainbleau, and were taken back under,
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