Robert Stratton, the editor and co-founder of “High Times Magazine”, spoke to students Tuesday night about the magazine’s history and his own personal experiences. Stratton integrated the politics of marijuana legalization with his biographical information and anecdotes on drug trafficking.
Stratton, with the assistance of a few friends, had originally founded “High Times” in 1973 with money they had made selling marijuana in college. He said that he had started the magazine to promote the marijuana he was selling and advocate for the legalization of marijuana.
Stratton said that as a student at Arizona State University, he made frequent trips to Mexico to get marijuana to use and sell, an activity that gave him the nickname Marijuana Stratton. He said that he sold marijuana in Phoenix, Tuscan, and in his hometown, Wellesley, Mass. Stratton said that marijuana became his business and he became the middleman for marijuana growers in Colombia and drug dealers in the United States.
Stratton returned to the magazine after serving time in jail and pursuing other projects. He overhauled its direction and image by splitting it in two. One magazine emphasizes horticulture and was renamed “High Times Grow America”. The other magazine is a highly political lifestyles version. Stratton also said he made changes in the layout and style.
“Before, [”High Times“] [had] been a misogynistic magazine, ‘babes and buds,’ but I’m not into that,” he said.
Stratton said that he first developed political beliefs about marijuana when he saw the anti-drug movie, “Reefer Madness,” in high school. He said he disagreed with the film’s message that marijuana incites madness in people, driving them to commit crimes that a sober person would not do.
“We have the moral imperative to break the laws that are wrong,” wrote Stratton on the High Times website.
Students who attended the lecture said they generally found Stratton’s boisterous personality entertaining, but that his speech lacked substance.
“[Stratton] didn’t seem to have any political message,” said Naomi Honig ’07. “[He] was really entertaining and funny with his drug trafficking stories, but there was no coherent message.”
While many agreed that the political message seemed lost in his stories and descriptions of the effects of marijuana, some believed his most powerful message was in his portrayal of prison life. After Stratton’s original sentence of 25 years was repealed, he only had to serve an eight-year sentence.
“While in general I thought he did talk a bit much about his personal history, I did really enjoy the description of his prison experience,” said Luling Osofksy ’05. “I thought it really interesting and poignant, and different from what one might expect of a prison.” Stratton said he used his experience in prison to help produce a number of prison-related movies and shows such as “Oz,” “Streetime,” and “Slam.” In addition, Stratton began a publication focused on prison in search of giving the public a more honest interpretation of life behind bars.
“A lot of people I met there were good people,” Stratton said. “ I would say that less than ten percent were really bad and predatory.”
Stratton also discussed the psychological impact of imprisonment and the solitude and loneliness that he faced. Stratton said he spent his time reading law books, which allowed him to successfully achieve a repeal of his original prison sentence.
“Don’t serve the time, let the time serve you,” Stratton said. “Take that inner journey. It’s almost a monastic experience. It will either make you or break you.”
Leave a Reply