Author: MW Roberts-Publisher/Executive Editor

MW Roberts is a journalist and publisher with over 20 years of experience in headline news, entertainment, and cannabis journalism. He is the founder and executive editor of Pot Culture Magazine, a daily publication dedicated to cannabis, counterculture, and outlaw voices. A former radio DJ and visual artist, Roberts has interviewed figures including Marc Maron, Henry Hill, Tommy Chong, Freeway Ricky Ross, Mickey Munday, and Billy Corben. His work is rooted in truth, grit, and cultural defiance, keeping Pot Culture fiercely independent and unapologetically real.

A Personal Note from the Publisher

Pot Culture Magazine logo on a dark green background, featuring white and gold script text around a green cannabis leaf with the slogan “For The Culture, By The Culture” and “Est. 2013” visible.

Pot Culture Magazine remains independent and reader-supported. During a serious family medical situation, any support helps keep the work moving.

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Freeway Ricky Ross: Vault Series and the Street Lie

Pot Culture Magazine May 2026 cover featuring Freeway Ricky Ross in a gray suit for the Vault Series article “Freeway Ricky Ross and the Street Lie,” with text noting an unpublished October 2011 interview, ISSN 3064-9331, Patrick Bastien Photography credit, Pot Culture Magazine logo, and PotCultureMagazine.com visible.

Vault Series brings an unpublished October 2011 phone interview with Freeway Ricky Ross into the record, using the tape to examine the crack era, Gary Webb, federal punishment, prison literacy, and the street lie that sold easy money while hiding the years it would steal. Ross is not absolved or buried.

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Ed Rosenthal and the Origins of High Times

Photo of Ed Rosenthal speaking into a microphone while wearing a white coat with cannabis leaf patches, photo courtesy of Angelabacca.

Ed Rosenthal recounts how the magazine was born not from psychedelic myth but from hard numbers. Rolling paper import data, underground press experience, and market logic revealed a massive hidden cannabis audience. His account challenges the romantic origin story and offers a rare firsthand look at the early mechanics behind one of cannabis culture’s most influential publications.

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The Ones Who Built It: Chris Simunek and the Lost Soul of Cannabis Journalism

Chris Simunek sits indoors in front of a deep red wall decorated with painted zebras. He has short dark hair and wears a dark jacket over a white shirt. The lighting is dim and warm, giving the scene a moody, artistic tone. A watermark in the corner reads “Image by: Rebekah Harris

In Part Two of our exclusive interview with former High Times Magazine Editor-in-Chief Chris Simunek, the conversation turns raw. From outlaw growers and underground legends to lost friends and a culture gutted by greed, Simunek reflects on the rise and fall of cannabis journalism. This is not nostalgia. This is what the movement lost when legalization cashed in.

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Ed Rosenthal’s Indian Mission: Re-Legalizing the World’s Oldest Ganja Culture

Ed Rosenthal, known as the “Guru of Ganja,” smiles while holding a lit joint in his hand. He is wearing a dark button-up shirt against a neutral background. The photo credit is attributed to Tonya Perme Photography.

Ed Rosenthal is taking the fight for cannabis reform to India, where centuries of cultural and spiritual connection to the plant were erased by prohibition. From preserving rare landrace genetics to pushing for re-legalization and hosting an All India Cannabis Convention, Rosenthal’s mission is clear: restore a legacy, ignite innovation, and help India reclaim its rightful place in global cannabis culture.

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Holding Since Sixth Grade

An illustrated scene of a police officer in a classroom pointing to a drug education kit labeled with substances like cocaine, heroin, weed, acid, mushrooms, and pills. Three young students watch attentively. Text at the top reads: “DARE TO BE LIED TO – HOLDING SINCE SIXTH GRADE.” At the bottom, bold red text says: “THE WAR ON DRUGS WAS WAGED IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.” The Pot Culture Magazine logo is handwritten above the kit. Copyright ©2025PotCultureMagazine/ArtDept appears in the corner.

Before we even hit puberty, they handed us a suitcase of real drugs and called it education. This sharp, personal chronicle of the DARE era exposes how fear-mongering replaced science in America’s classrooms. From Officer Gill’s narcotics briefcase to the roots of THC stigma, the war on weed started early and never really ended.

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