About Pot Culture Magazine

Independent Cannabis Journalism With Teeth

Pot Culture Magazine is an independent cannabis publication founded by Matthew Roberts on June 26, 2013. Relaunched in December 2023, the magazine covers cannabis law, politics, culture, history, science, consumer protection, and the institutions shaping the future of legalization.

PCM is unapologetically pro-cannabis, but evidence comes before ideology. Legalization does not exempt an industry from scrutiny, and opposition to prohibition does not require defending every claim made in the name of cannabis reform.

The magazine operates under one editorial standard:

Factual. Accurate. Concise. True.

Independent by Design

Pot Culture Magazine is owned and published by Matthew Roberts, who serves as publisher and executive editor.

PCM has no corporate media owner or outside investor directing its editorial coverage. Roberts oversees the publication’s reporting, editing, production, and long-term editorial strategy.

Editorial independence means examining cannabis companies with the same skepticism applied to lawmakers, regulators, prohibition organizations, and government agencies.

The magazine does not sell favorable coverage or present promotional material as independent journalism. Its positions are its own, not those of advertisers or industry organizations.

What We Report

PCM investigates the distance between what institutions promise and what their policies deliver.

Its reporting covers medical access, criminal justice, cannabis science, consumer safety, government enforcement, licensing, employment protections, corporate influence, international drug policy, and the consequences of prohibition.

The magazine examines legislation beyond the headlines, questions unsupported scientific claims, and challenges marketing that substitutes confidence for evidence.

Cannabis has a history that reaches far beyond dispensaries and publicly traded companies. Preserving that history is as important to PCM as documenting the legal and political battles taking place today.

Culture, History, and Original Voices

Pot Culture Magazine publishes original interviews, historical reporting, profiles, and cultural criticism documenting the people and institutions that helped shape cannabis and counterculture history.

Its published work includes coverage of former High Times editors Chris Simunek and Steven Hager, cultivation author Ed Rosenthal, and figures from comedy, music, and underground culture.

In October 2026, PCM published PUNK Unfinished, an original feature involving PUNK Magazine cofounder John Holmstrom. The piece examines punk’s fiftieth anniversary, the magazine’s cultural legacy, Tom Forçade, High Times, and Holmstrom’s plans to return PUNK’s early issues to circulation.

The magazine’s historical coverage also explores the underground language of cannabis, prohibition-era cultural practices, and the ways commercial legalization can obscure the people who built the culture.

Before founding PCM, Roberts worked in broadcasting and journalism, interviewing figures including Tommy Chong, Marc Maron, Doug Benson, Aziz Ansari, Mickey Munday, Freeway Ricky Ross, Billy Corben, Jackie Martling, and other personalities from entertainment and counterculture.

That earlier work is part of the publisher’s professional background and remains distinct from interviews commissioned or published by Pot Culture Magazine.

International Readership

Pot Culture Magazine reaches readers beyond the United States, its largest audience.

As of the magazine’s August 2026 reporting, its audience had extended to 129 countries and territories, including readership in the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Ireland, and South Africa.

PCM maintains an international editorial perspective, examining how different governments approach prohibition, legalization, public health, enforcement, and cannabis commerce.

The publication carries ISSN 3064-9331.

Recognition and Outside References

Pot Culture Magazine’s reporting has attracted attention beyond its own platforms.

On January 21, 2025, the internationally distributed podcast Stuff You Should Know quoted PCM during its episode The Ballad of High Times Magazine. The hosts cited the magazine’s description of the collapse of the historic cannabis publication’s website.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, NORML, has included multiple PCM articles in its 2026 In the Media listings, including reporting on federal firearms restrictions, Virginia legalization, Michigan cannabis taxation, and federal hemp policy.

PCM’s July 2025 historical profile of former High Times editor Steven Hager also became a cited reference in his Wikipedia biography.

In 2026, the magazine received remote press accreditation for the Tribeca Festival, reflecting its growing involvement in coverage beyond conventional cannabis industry reporting.

These developments mark a growing external presence for a publication operating without the resources of a corporate newsroom.

The Original Blog

Pot Culture Magazine began on Blogger in 2013, establishing the foundation for the publication that returned a decade later.

The original Blogspot site continues as a companion archive and editorial outlet for commentary, cultural observations, historical material, and shorter features.

The original blog and the main publication serve different purposes while maintaining the same editorial identity.

Readers can explore both at PotCultureMagazine.com and potculturemagazine.blogspot.com.

Journalism From Within the Culture

Pot Culture Magazine was built by a writer who believes cannabis deserves more than another industry newsletter or a polished collection of product announcements.

The magazine respects the people who kept the culture alive when doing so carried real legal and personal consequences. It also recognizes that legalization brought new questions about power, money, access, safety, and accountability.

PCM exists to investigate those questions, preserve the historical record, and report what the evidence supports, regardless of whom the findings inconvenience.

For the Culture, By the Culture.

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