Dear Media,
Please stop it with the weed puns already. They are very stigmatizing and make serious topics risible.
Don’t get us wrong. At High Times, we love to see how many mainstream journalists and reporters, how many websites and magazines, are getting aboard the cannabis train and providing serious coverage. There’s a lot going on, and the more attention we get, the better.
But we need the right kind of attention. This is not a novelty act, nor is it a laughing matter.
Some of the leading cannabis industry analytics firms like New Frontier Data anticipate that annual marijuana sales in the U.S. will stand around $24 billion by 2025. While projections vary and other analysts expect somewhat different figures, one thing is clear: cannabis is an indisputably significant economic driver.
Overcoming The ‘Giggle Factor’
With such a large economic impact, we need is a type of interest, of awareness, that can help convince people legalization matters so their hearts get in the fight. Not to get high, but for relief. A belief that there’s a leaf that can help millions ease their grief – sorry Lin-Manuel Miranda, we could not help but borrow a little bit of your Puerto Rican ritmo to prove one can be funny, or at least ingenious, without falling back on tired, stigmatizing stereotypes.
Now, in our humble opinion, too many media outlets, thought leaders and opinion formers, cannot avoid what cannabis reporter Debra Borchardt described in a recent conversation as the “giggle factor.” What this means is that, while most writers and media outlets (and people in general) are aware of the implications and the importance of cannabis legalization, they still find the topic a bit amusing,