High Times Senior Executive Busted For Marijuana Trafficking

High Times magazine’s advertising executive and senior writer Matthew Woodstock is allegedly one of Manhattan’s oldest and biggest marijuana wholesaler. The Manhattan district attorney’s office has charged Stang with wholesale distribution of multiple tons of marijuana which is alleged to have been grown indoors near the Miami, Florida area.

Matthew Woodstock Stang, otherwise known by the alias “Magazine Guy” on the marijuana scene, was first arrested in 2010 and is currently free on a $500,000 bail bond. $100,000 of the bail had to be paid in cash. Stang’s attorneys are currently in negotiations with the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Roc-A-Fella records co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke was arrested yesterday at his home North Bergen, New Jersey. His arrest comes as federal authorities execute a sweep on behalf of operation “Green Venom” in which over 177 pounds of marijuana and $2 million in profits have already been seized.

The smuggling ring allegedly involved Matthew Woodstock Stang supplying tons of marijuana to ringleader Geovanny “Manny” Rodriguez Perez.

The pot was manufactured in the Miami area and shipped to New York alongside legitimate merchandise in tractor trailers. The marijuana cultivation and smuggling ring has operated for years and is allegedly responsible for multiple acts of drug related violence.

Jay-Z is not believed to be associated with the drug smuggling operation.

Stang is certainly not the first alleged smuggler associated with High Times as High Times magazine was in fact founded by smuggler Gary Goodson whose been described as a “drug-culture mastermind” by his own magazine.

Gary Goodson, also known as Tom King Forcade, made multiple attempts to smuggle tons of marijuana into and within the United States and eventually commit suicide by shooting himself with a pearl-handled .22 caliber pistol.

Goodson and Stang were not alone in their actions as the magazine’s publisher and editor in chief, Richard Stratton, was allocated eight years in prison for his role in smuggling Lebanese hash and cannabis into New Jersey. While the incident of Stratton smuggling marijuana was a serious one, what really stuck out was the man’s defense which went:

“I’m not a criminal, but a writer gathering material for a book about the underworld.”

High Times magazine is known for publishing pictures of various cannabis strains, listing marijuana strains and prices from state to state, general insight into the marijuana sub-culture, advertisements for indoor growing equipment, and more. While the magazine’s staff have managed to avoid indictment for their editorial efforts, the vendors and advertisers haven’t been quite as fortunate. At one point, numerous states classified stores selling the magazine as illegal drug-paraphernalia sellers. In the late 1980s, the DEA raided dozens of advertisers. After the raids, editor Andy Kowl was quoted joking with his employees:

“Buy an ad! Get a subpoena!”

What are your thoughts on the legalization of cannabis?

via Yahoo! News & New York Post