420 Magazine Celebrates 30 Years of History and Stories as Publishers, Activists and Pioneers in the Cannabis Industry

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., April 20, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Today, 420 Magazine celebrates its 30^th anniversary as hard-working pioneers in the Cannabis industry. The magazine has been dedicated to educating the masses about the cannabis plant, by exposing government lies, cover-ups and disinformation from all over the world, and would like to thank its staff and volunteers for helping keep its ship afloat over the years.

"Some came and went, some passed away and some are still here with us today. Without their help, 'weed' would be nothing, so thank you for helping us execute my life's work and visions of changing international cannabis laws via awareness and education through entertainment," said Rob Griffin, founder and CEO of the magazine.

420 Magazine started its journey in Maryland in 1993, when, in retaliation for the injustice of people losing their freedom over possessing cannabis plants, Griffin started a line of clothing called 420 Gear with activist-based messages like "Legalize" and "It's Always 4:20 Somewhere" on hats, T-shirts and shorts. "I started taking pictures of local models in 420 Gear for our catalog and website, which was going over really well. It went so well that Rolling Stone Magazine dubbed my '420 Girls' project as 'The Best Website EVER. EVER.' on the cover of their magazine," he said.

"Soon after, a small print magazine was put together and circulated at music shows and grassroots events, but there were no vendors of interest that were brave enough to advertise their products in a print magazine, as they were all 'underground' enterprises. It all ended up being too expensive to produce and we couldn't reach as many people as we could online, so we decided it was best to focus all of our time, energy and money on perfecting and evolving our digital presence," said Griffin. 

In 1994, Griffin joined countless music tours to promote his message with national acts who were supporting the magazine's mission. The bands would wear 420 Magazine shirts on stage and promote its mission to their audiences not only in live performances, but also on their websites. They also plastered the magazine's stickers at every venue they played, as well as on their instruments being played live on-stage. 420 Magazine also had the support of hundreds of radio stations across the country with many DJs mentioning and supporting it on the air frequently.

"In 1995, a major magazine in our industry offered to hire me and my webmaster to expand their website and mission like I had done for my own. However, after being advised that running my own website would then be a conflict of interest, I told them thanks, but no thanks. So, instead they began copying my 420 Girls and 420 Bands content by contacting all of the girls and bands I had been working with and promoting. I was flattered, and annoyed just the same," said Griffin.

Griffin spent much of the 2000s in Southern California, continuing to grow his magazine, helping create professional cannabis scene sets for major films and TV shows, and publishing books. Ten years ago, said Griffin, "Things in Hollywood were getting crazy, so I moved up to Northern California to focus on taking 420 Magazine to the next level. We've been beyond busy maintaining the website with 60,000-80,000 unique visitors daily. It takes a team of 25 paid staff and volunteers from all over the world to keep our ship afloat. Between the wildfires, the riots, COVID and businesses coming and going like the wind, it's taken everything we have to stay afloat.

"I've been running this mission from my home offices all over the country to change the international cannabis laws through creating cannabis awareness. With so much work, it has been difficult to go to events and schmooze with the industry folks. A majority of my time is now spent on programming, SEO, accounting, ad sales, moderating, administration and managing our staff of 25 volunteers and paid staff.

"I started this as an activist-based mission, thinking I'd be gathering activists from around the world to work together and free the herb; however, after all these years, it's clear to see that most activists want their own soapbox and were not interested in my platform. Instead, it became an international hotbed for growers all over the planet connecting, sharing and helping each other learn how to grow our beloved plant. Unfortunately, none of them wanted to leave their hidden identities, so they all congregated under our safe umbrella. I've been hosting our servers in Canada this entire time to protect us and our mission from the pesky feds in the U.S. so the growers can feel safe sharing their content and helping others. I am beyond grateful they never crossed the line of going into Canada to get our data to prosecute me, like they did Marc Emery from Cannabis Culture Magazine.

"Many of the founding pioneers are now deceased, and many of the living ones have been cast aside; however, some of us are still alive and doing what we can to stay afloat in this new, crazy and oversaturated industry. It hasn't been easy keeping this operation together with no PayPal for donations or product sales because they keep closing our account for being 'drug-related' and no merchant accounts will accept us because of the grow forums on our website. Things have gotten so challenging at times with the constant obstacles that I've considered shutting down the mission and moving onto something else. It really is a thankless and self-motivating job; however, when I think of all the lives we've saved and the quality of lives we've drastically improved, it gives me the fuel to get through yet another day of helping others.

"It's never been about money for me. It's always been about changing these laws and getting our brothers and sisters out of jail. This is why we continue struggling to pay the bills today, because our hearts are in the movement, not the money."

Griffin added, "One of my mentors Jack Herer once told me, 'I'm going to keep fighting for Cannabis Hemp until I turn 80, it's legal or I die.' When he passed away, I picked up his torch and vowed to continue our mission in the same way: until I am 80, Cannabis is legal worldwide or I die. We still have much work to do and you can rest assured that we will continue our mission to create Cannabis awareness until our people are free and it is no longer illegal to possess a plant anywhere on this planet."

About 420 Magazine

420 Magazine brings international cannabis news, reviews and forums where readers can utilize scientific and medical articles, and meet expert cultivators. 420 Magazine's collective mission of activists promoting Cannabis awareness has been going strong since 1993. For more information, visit www.420Magazine.com. 

Source: 420 Magazine