Heads Together. Weed and the Underground Press Syndicate 19651973

The youth uprising now simply called The Sixties was fed by one of the greatest booms in publishing history The Underground Press Syndicate UPS began as a loose confederation of five papers in 1966 and within a few years swelled to over 500 across the world reaching millions of readers They spread like weed said the UPS director weeddealer and eventual founder of High Times Tom Forcade The metaphor was apt the UPS spurred the legalization movement and weed became its totem

Weed was so pervasive it became a helpful means for government agencies to crack down on the UPS Weed came to emblematize activist groups and added a touch of flair to the mastheads of UPS titles Weed permeated UPS pages with gaps in text crammed with weedinspired spot illustratios

Heads Together collects these drawings shining a light on lesserknown names in the stonerart canon and many who werent names at all as no signature was attached It also compiles guides for growing weed from the period that were treated like contraband by the CIA Activistoriented psychedelic rolling papers are showcased too

As pot now fasttracks toward legalization in the US and beyond its once incendiary status is brought into odd relief Pots profiteers of the corporate market today do not reflect those who fought for legalization or the Black and Latino populations strategically criminalized for pot well before hippies were targeted and long after

The art in this book speaks to a time when pot was smoked with optimism as something potentially good for society and people capable of activating profound transformation in the face of corrupt and powerful forces

English
566 pages 451 color images
25 _ 19 cm Softcover
ISBN 9783907236543