THE NEW HIGH LIFE

Marijuana is moving into the mainstream, with fashion, films, TV and
politicians acknowledging it's here to stay.

In June, an estimated 25,000 people attended the inaugural THC Expo
hemp and art show in downtown Los Angeles, an event that pumped
hundreds of thousands of dollars into the local economy -- including
a $22,400 payment directly to the city of Los Angeles for use of its
convention center.

Barneys New York in Beverly Hills is celebrating the Woodstock spirit
by selling $78 "Hashish" candles in Jonathan Adler pots with
bas-relief marijuana leaves; Hickey offers $75 linen pocket squares
or $120 custom polo shirts bearing the five-part leaf; and French
designer Lucien Pellat-Finet is serving up white-gold and diamond
custom pot-leaf-emblazoned wristwatches for $49,000 and belt buckles
for $56,000.

Earlier this year, Season 5 of Showtime's "Weeds" kicked off with
promotional materials plastered on bus shelters, buses and billboards
throughout the city. Last year, just across from the tourist-packed
Farmers Market at 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue, a "Pineapple
Express" billboard belched faux pot smoke into the air. Even the '70s
slacker-stoner comedy duo Cheech and Chong are back. After recently
concluding an international tour, they say they are working on
another movie, voicing an animated version of themselves and even
batting around the idea of staging a Cheech and Chong Broadway musical.

After decades of bubbling up around the edges of so-called civilized
society, marijuana seems to be marching mainstream at a fairly rapid
pace. At least in urban areas such as Los Angeles, cannabis culture
is coming out of the closet.

At fashion-insider parties, joints are passed nearly as freely as
hors d'oeuvres. Traces of the acrid smoke waft from restaurant
patios, car windows and passing pedestrians on the city streets -- in
broad daylight. Even the art of name-dropping in casual conversation
- -- once limited to celebrity sightings and designer shoe purchases --
now includes the occasional boast of recently discovered weed strains
such as "Strawberry Cough" and "Purple Kush."

Public sentiment is more than anecdotal; earlier this year, a
California Field Poll found that 56% of California voters supported
legalizing and taxing marijuana. Last month, voters in Oakland
overwhelmingly approved a tax increase on medical marijuana sales,
the first of its kind in the country, and Los Angeles Councilwoman
Janice Hahn has proposed something similar for the City of Angels.
"In this current economic crisis, we need to get creative about how
we raise funds," Hahn said in a statement.

Smoking pot used to be the kind of personal conduct that could sink a
U.S. Supreme Court nomination (Douglas H. Ginsburg in 1987) and
embarrass a presidential candidate (Bill Clinton in 1992). Today, it
seems to be a non-issue for the current inhabitant of the Oval
Office; Barack Obama issued his marijuana mea culpa in a 1995 memoir.

California Field PollDrug references in popular music have multiplied
like, well, weeds in the last three decades. Marijuana's presence on
TV and in the movies has moved from the harbinger of bad things
including murderous rage ("Reefer Madness" in 1936) to full-scale
hauntings ("Poltergeist" in 1982) and burger runs gone awry ("Harold
& Kumar go to White Castle" in 2001) to being just another fixture in
the pop-culture firmament. Cannabis crops up on shows such as
"Entourage," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "True Blood" and "Desperate
Housewives," and even on animated shows such as "The Simpsons" and
"Family Guy."

To date, none is as pot-centric as Showtime's "Weeds," which follows
the adventures of widowed soccer mom turned pot dealer Nancy Botwin
(Mary-Louise Parker), though the show's creator, Jenji Kohan, says
there are TV shows in development that are set against the backdrop
of medical marijuana clinics.

Richard Laermer, a media and pop culture trend watcher and author of
several books, including "2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade,"
points to Bill Maher as a bellwether of change. "Ten years ago, he
would have been taken off the air." ("Real Time With Bill Maher" airs
on HBO.) Now, he's "a totally mainstream comic who consistently talks
about how much pot he smokes."

Marijuana's role on TV and in the movies is no surprise, says Robert
Thompson, a professor of television and pop culture at the University
of Syracuse S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. "The
people who are making movies and television shows, from the
scriptwriters to the director and the producers -- a very large chunk
of those are probably people who grew up not only much more
comfortable with marijuana's presence in society, but probably as
consumers themselves of it.

"As a result," Thompson said, "it's almost switched with alcohol.
Think back to Dean Martin and Foster Brooks -- their whole comedy act
was the fact that they were in the bag -- that now is seen a lot less
often. The stoner is the new drunk."

There's One Hitch

General marijuana use is, of course, illegal. Under federal law,
marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance (in the same category
as LSD, heroin and peyote) and possession of it is punishable by up
to one year in jail and a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first
conviction. According to the FBI's annual Uniform Crime Report, in
2007 there were 872,721 arrests in the U.S. for marijuana violations.
For Californians who are not otherwise covered under the state's
medical marijuana law (which continues to engender controversy among
those who believe it's abused by recreational users), possession of
28.5 grams or less is a misdemeanor punishable by a $100 fine. What's
more, passing a drug-free urine test is still a prerequisite for many
jobs across the country.

Nonetheless, some indulge. Marijuana reform groups say it's a
$35.8-billion domestic cash crop. And today's cannabis consumers --
the state chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana
Laws estimates the number of Californians who have smoked at least
once in the last year is 3 million -- open their wallets for
pot-themed movies, handbooks, calendars, fancy glass storage jars,
energy drinks, hemp clothing and ganja-themed bus tours, all part of
the ever-widening marijuana-adjacent economy.

How much do we spend?

"It's hard to say," says Brian Roberts, co-founder of the THC Expo.
"Do you count 'Pineapple Express' that did $100 million at the box
office? Do you add in Dr. Dre's '[The] Chronic' and '2001' albums
that [together] sold over 10 million copies? What I can tell you is
that [the expo] pumped over $400,000 into the local economy," he
added, citing expenditures for security guards and other temporary
staffers, banners, decorations, printing and advertising, and renting
the South Hall of the L.A. Convention Center.

Roberts, who launched and later sold a now-dormant, pot-themed
apparel line called THC Clothing before getting into the expo
business, has seen pot culture consumers' buying power firsthand. "I
used to own a smoke shop [2000 BC] over on Melrose and people would
spend up to $400 for a piece of glass to use as a water pipe --
you're talking about an adult with extra money. That's like buying a
power tool."

Did something happen between 2003, when Tommy Chong started a
nine-month stint in federal prison for selling a mail-order water
pipe, and the June THC Expo, when he stood signing autographs and
shaking hands, barely a roach clip's throw from row upon row of
swirling glass pipes, smoking devices with octopus-like tentacles,
whirring motors and price tags as high as $800?

Some people point to the Obama administration as the biggest
game-changer. "It was when [former President George W. Bush] and his
boys were run out of office, that made the biggest difference," Chong
said by phone near the end of the "Light Up America and Canada Tour"
that reunited him with Cheech Marin.

Roberts cited the election as the tipping point as well. "The whole
show teetered on who won the election," he said. "If McCain had won,
I'd have never have put up my money. But Americans are no longer
living in fear."

In addition, trend watcher Laermer points to a more subtle shift:
aging baby boomers -- a generation famous for tuning in, turning on
and dropping out -- who are keeping their party habits going into
their golden years.

"It's hard to fathom that the fifty- and sixtysomethings would be
against pot after all the pot they smoked," Laermer said, "Their kids
would laugh them out of the room if they started telling them not to
smoke pot."

The so-called marijuana movement has attracted some surprising names.
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has spoken out about decreasing penalties for
possession and protecting medical marijuana users. Earlier this year,
Glenn Beck of Fox News announced on the air: "Look, I'm a
libertarian. You want to legalize marijuana; you want to legalize
drugs -- that's fine."

David Bienenstock, senior editor of New York-based marijuana magazine
High Times and author of "The Official High Times Pot Smoker's
Handbook," said: "Whether you're with the press or a politician, it's
no longer a third rail. In the past it could have cost you your job.
Now people are at least able to have those conversations."

Roberts, for one, is ready. He's already booked 50,000 square feet at
the Los Angeles Convention Center for next year's THC Expo. It's
going to happen April 23-25 -- right after the April 20 date that's
become a kind of pot smokers' national holiday.

"They're happy to have us back," Roberts said. "They told me the food
concessions sold $38,000 worth of food on the first day alone -- and
that's more than they do in a whole week at the California Gift Show."

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HIGH POINTS IN POT ETHOS

August 30, 2009

1969

Tommy Chong hires improv comedian Richard "Cheech" Marin to perform
between the bands and strippers at his family's Vancouver, Canada,
night club. Nine years later, the godfathers of the stoner flick give
birth to their first movie, "Up in Smoke."

1968-1970

Bill Clinton experiments with marijuana during this period while in
England, but doesn't manage to actually inhale, thus preserving
himself for a future stint as two-term occupant of the White House.

1974

Tom Forcade founds High Times magazine to do for drugs what Playboy
did for sex -- complete with glossy pot-plant centerfolds.

1976

Reggae musician Peter Tosh releases his solo debut album, "Legalize
It." The title track will become the de facto anthem of the marijuana
legalization movement.

1982

"Fast Times at Ridgemont High" sets the Gen X stereotype in stoner
with Sean Penn's bong-smoking, wave-catching surf rat Jeff Spicoli.
Aloha, Mr. Hand!

1985

John Hughes' recipe for a classic: Take five high school stereotypes
burning off a morning of detention, add one joint and mix well. The
result is "The Breakfast Club," a movie sunny-side up on the bonding
aspect of getting baked.

1992

Dr. Dre releases his first solo hip-hop album, "The Chronic," which
takes its name from a slang term for high-quality weed and its cover
art from a package of Zig-Zag rolling papers. The album gets high on
the charts -- going triple platinum in its first year of release.

1993

Set on the final day of high school in 1976, Richard Linklater's
"Dazed and Confused" was shamelessly pro-pot with tag lines that
included "Weed rules" and "See it with a bud." Coincidentally, it's
one of the last times anyone can remember seeing Matthew McConaughey
wearing a shirt.

1996

California voters pass Proposition 215, making the Golden State the
first state to allow the medical use of marijuana. By mid-2009, a
dozen other states have passed similar measures.

2005

Showtime's "Weeds" gives the neighborhood drug dealer an extreme
makeover -- and more than a dime bag of sympathy -- by introducing
suburban soccer mom Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker), who turns to
peddling pot after her husband dies.

August 2008

Pot comedy "Pineapple Express" opens; America gets a pot dealer who
looks like James Franco. The movie goes on to make a smokin' $101.6
million at box offices worldwide.

November 2008

Michael Phelps, the most decorated gold medalist in Olympic history,
shatters the stoner-slacker stereotype by being photographed smoking
out of a water pipe at a party in South Carolina.

March 2009

At President Obama's webcast town hall meeting, the top-submitted
question was about legalizing marijuana to help end the recession.
The president's response against it crushes a collective buzz.

July 2009

Kalpen Modi, who as Kal Penn portrayed the stoner Kumar of "Harold &
Kumar Go to White Castle" fame, heads to the White House to serve as
associate director of the Office of Public Engagement. Minds can be
heard blowing on college campuses around the country.