Pubdate: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2003 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1781/a09.html Author: Ginger Hardwick Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) HIGH TIMES AND ROAD TO RUIN To the Editor: Your "puff piece" about John Buffalo Mailer and High Times magazine ("Who's Smoking Now?" Nov. 16) let the magazine and its new executive editor off the hook all too easily. The article notes without irony that High Times is now supported largely by ads for "horticultural supplies." Apparently, Mr. Mailer hopes that mainstream advertisers and newsstands will be ready to support High Times once it takes the photos of marijuana off the cover. Mainstream advertisers and newsstand owners should not be fooled: The purpose of this magazine is not changed by the inclusion of an article entitled "Abolish Schools? Are Our Schools Prisons?" (which your reporter described as "a question about education reform"). The articles and advertisements in High Times glorify drug use, and provide our youngsters with a menu of how-to advice: how to grow your own (including the opportunity to buy seeds through the mail), how to make a bong, how to beat a drug test. I have no doubt that the antiauthoritarian ideas promoted by High Times are seductive and seem glamorous to many high school students; unfortunately they promote behavior that too often results in heartbreak, in potential that will never be realized, in crime or even in death. If Mr. Mailer is successful, this magazine will be carried by more newsstands and will be more easily available to teenagers. What a shame that this intelligent, wealthy, well-connected young man is using his talents to promote a culture that has ruined so many other young lives. GINGER HARDWICK, Westfield, N.J. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl