10 Moments That Made Weed Culture What It Is (and 5 That Nearly Killed It)

10 Moments That Made Weed Culture What It Is

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• 1967 – Summer of Love Gets Skunky: The late ’60s counterculture embraced marijuana as a symbol of peace and rebellion. In San Francisco’s 1967 Summer of Love and at Woodstock in 1969, hippies openly lit up, viewing cannabis as a natural, mind-opening sacrament. This era normalized ganja in youth culture and sparked activism – the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) was founded in 1970 to fight prohibition.

• 1970s – The Reggae Revolution: In Jamaica, reggae artists like Bob Marley sang about “Kaya” and the “holy herb”, spreading Rastafarian views of ganja as a sacrament. Marley’s music globalized cannabis culture and linked it to anti-colonial resistance.
• 1974 – High Times Hits the Presses: Publisher Tom Forçade launched High Times magazine, initially a spoof of Playboy with centerfolds of buds. It became the “bible of weed culture” and sold 500,000 copies a month by 1977.

• 1978 – Up in Smoke Blazes into Theaters: Comedians Cheech & Chong brought stoner humor mainstream with Up in Smoke, the first true “stoner movie.” It grossed $44 million and kicked off the cannabis comedy genre.
• 1985 – Jack Herer’s The Emperor Wears No Clothes: Activist Jack Herer published this underground classic, documenting hundreds of uses for hemp and exposing the lies of prohibition. The book is credited with igniting the hemp revolution.
• 1988 – The First Cannabis Cup: High Times editor Steve Hager organized the inaugural Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam. What began as a small harvest festival grew into the Oscars of weed culture.

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• 1991 – The Code “420” Goes Global: The term 420, coined by the Waldos, spread globally after High Times published their story in 1991. April 20 became an international stoner holiday, with massive smoke-outs from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to London’s Hyde Park.
• 1996 – Medical Marijuana Goes Legit: California’s Proposition 215 made it the first U.S. state to legalize medical marijuana. This landmark shift inspired other states to follow suit.
• 2012 – The Legalization Era Begins: Voters in Colorado and Washington legalized recreational cannabis, opening the floodgates for a wave of reform across the United States.

• 2010s – Cannabis Conquers Countries: Uruguay became the first country to legalize marijuana in 2013, followed by Canada in 2018. These moves cemented cannabis as a global industry.

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5 Moments That Nearly Killed It

• 1930s – Reefer Madness Propaganda: The racist, sensationalist campaign led by Harry Anslinger and fueled by William Randolph Hearst culminated in the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.
• 1970 – Nixon Declares War on Pot: The Controlled Substances Act made marijuana a Schedule I drug, and Nixon ignored the Shafer Commission’s recommendation to decriminalize cannabis.
• 1980s – Just Say No: The Reagan era ramped up mandatory minimum sentences and poured millions into anti-cannabis campaigns like D.A.R.E..
• 2003 – Operation Pipe Dreams: The DEA’s Operation Pipe Dreams led to the arrest of comedian Tommy Chong for selling bongs.

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• 2010s – The Big Green Corporate Grab: Tobacco giant Altria and beer conglomerate Constellation Brands invested billions in cannabis, sparking fears that Big Weed would crush the culture.

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Through highs and lows, weed culture has proven as resilient as a hardy plant. For a deeper dive into one of cannabis culture’s architects, see Pot Culture Magazine’s profile of Steve Hager, the visionary High Times editor who helped create 420, the Cannabis Cup, and more.

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