Josh Kesselman, HBI Innovations Founder, Speaks with the New York Times about the Acquisition of High Times

New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - August 4, 2025) -  Josh Kesselman, the founder of HBI Innovations, was recently interviewed for the New York Times where he discussed his purchase of High Times magazine. HBI Innovations is the independent provider of high-quality rolling papers and smoking innovations, widely known for its RAW® brand of rolling papers. Kesselman, a longtime reader and fan of High Times, the legendary anti-establishment publication, purchased it for about $3.5 million in June.

High Times was founded in 1974 and taken over by a private equity group in 2017. Credit: By Seth McConnell/The Denver Post, via Getty Images. (Josh Kesselman founded HBI Innovations, the distributors of RAW Rolling Papers.)

High Times, founded in 1974 by Tom Forçade, was once a home to heavyweight contributors including William S. Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson and Charles Bukowski. High Times' change in leadership in 2017 caused controversy, resulting in overexpansion, deteriorated trust within the cannabis community, and a shift in the magazine's tone. After the publication's parent company, the Hightimes Holding Corporation, failed to make loan payments last year, the magazine and its assets were taken over by a lender and put up for sale, and the September issue was its last for the time being.

"Our goal is not to make money on this. Our goal is to rebuild it to what it once was," Kesselman said to the New York Times "We want to elevate human consciousness". With his intentions being made clear, Kesselman wants to reinvent the magazine for modern readers and the world they now occupy.

Kesselman has a deep understanding about what the modern cannabis community wants. His line of RAW® rolling papers was founded in 2005 and generates an estimated billion dollars a year in worldwide retail revenue, according to a spokeswoman.

High Times cover featuring Andy Warhol from August 1977 (Josh Kesselman founded HBI Innovations, the distributors of RAW Rolling Papers.)

By partnering with former High Times co-owner, Matt Stang, Kesselman is ushering High Times into a new era. "There will be podcasts, there will be short-form video, there will be medium-form documentary," Mr. Stang said.

Former High Times co-owner Matt Stang with Josh Kesselman, who paid about $3.5 million for the High Times intellectual property rights. PHOTO: BIG FREEZY (Josh Kesselman founded HBI Innovations, the distributors of RAW Rolling Papers.)

When Mr. Kesselman first flipped through High Times's pages in the 1980s, it was like "looking into an open world of possibilities, a world I didn't even know existed," he said. "Seeing not just the plants, but the lifestyle, the way that people were actually living an incredibly free life, it really inspired me to be me."

Kesselman and Stang also plan to bring back the iconic Cannabis Cup next year, in which judges from around the world rate their favorite varieties of marijuana. The Cup was founded in 1988 by a High Times editor, according to the magazine's website. "It was always about freedom fighting, not just for the plant, but for High Times," Mr. Kesselman said.

The full article can be read here.

Source: Grasslands

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