Sadly, I was fired by High Times for requesting a small raise to cover the cost of my kid’s braces ($250 per month). At the time my take-home pay did not even cover the rent on my apartment, and I had a disabled family member I was taking care of that required an additional location, and was a single dad with two kids. They dismissed any possible raise, even though the Cannabis Cup I created was making millions, and the magazine circulation had crashed without my leadership. This angered me so much that I requested a buy out on the ten percent of the company I owned. They said, see what you can get. I got four offers at $250k per share, half my shares. High Times fired me, threatened me with litigation, seized all my archives, and forced me to give up the shares for less than a quarter on the dollar. And then they didn’t even honor the bullshit deal.
Why was I so angry at High Times? Mostly because I’d recently got back from lunch with the head of Lion’s Gate and his top execs and they had greenlighted a $2-million movie called High Times Cannabis Cup, and after that lunch, Lion’s Gate hired a screenwriter, who met with me and the producers, and wrote a brilliant script that was a comedy, yet it included all my concepts on ritual theater, and non-violence, and cannabis ceremonies, and really gave props to the Temple Dragon Crew, and the Temple Dragon Band, and used the candles in the film. This was going to be my vindication after being chained in a cellar for seven years by High Times, only High Times squashed the film by saying they had to take out the Temple Dragons and all their magic.
They couldn’t even respect my humble little attempt to tell the world that the true story of the holy grail involves cannabis.
Sad sick story Steve, we had never heard the facts before now. They sound a lot like big pharma and what they are doing in Jamaica & Canada. I lived in Amsterdam during the nineties when it was something, now the one in Negril, Jamaica, where I have a home for 40yrs, is sloppy soft. I don’t and won’t support them in any way, don’t even check them online for years. Best Wishes to you and all the Happy Dragons.
After putting Spin Doctors & and porn stars on the cover while able to cause Ed Rosenthal to walk away from “YOUR” magazine, the conspiracy now is “MY TIMES” isn’t better off? Think about it and brace yourself Steve _______ P.S. After 8 years of financial failure at KPFK FM and currently owing Amy Goodman over TWO MILLION dollars, do you think that the Pacifica Radio Network is officially a CIA data mining front with Alan Minsky as its Mickey Mouse???