Here”s the introduction to her piece (see below) published on Linked In which I’m sad to say doesn’t surprise us in the least considering some of the stories we have published about the High Times Group (not the publication specifically) under the helm of Adam Levin.
We can’t surmise as to whether the editor that Arnold has been writing for receives orders from higher up the chain, that we will leave to you, dear reader , to analyse”
The moral of the story,is that , in general, “cannabis media” is a toothless creature and we suggest that criticism of big deals and investigating where money may have come from to fund those deals is a big no no in corporate cannabis these days especially if you might have had some Russina friends “in the past”
It should actually be a big YES YES considering the Juicy Fields debacle that we investigate on Monday in the Karma Koala Podcast in our interview with the Swedish lawyer that has over a 1000 bilked investors on his books already
Declaration: Margueritte Arnold appears from time time as an unpaid commentator on the Karma Koala Podcast on European cannabis market issues
Here’s a snippet of what she says in the article
One (female) colleague – a senior figure in the European industry – told me she found this whole thing scary.
On one level it is. Big pot does not like to be criticized and further can go to very strange, extreme, and frequently brutal steps to try to prevent it (at least from some people). However, this too is not new. As I have mentioned elsewhere at this point, Canopy Growth threatened both me and my editor at Cannabis Industry Journal for publishing an article that has certainly stood the test of time – on several fronts.
While Cappetta at High Times did eventually say that it was his “trusted friends” outside the company who he consulted in his decision to fire me (which is even worse, frankly, if not displays a certain double standard about behavior), and that Curaleaf had nothing to do with it, one of the reasons apparently my journalistic prowess was questioned was because I had not contacted the Curaleaf press office for comment. This leaves the obvious question hanging of course – because if it was not Curaleaf that complained, how would High Times know whether I dialed or texted the company for comment? Beyond that, when I reached out to the firm to comment on this story, I rapidly found that there was no easy way to contact the press department, and all inquiries were instead being directed to the Investor Relations desk.
Not to mention, why the hell should I call their PR office for a story that is properly linked to credible online sources? I do not need a public relations department to tell me that they are not getting sued, not to mention the other issues that have dogged the company since at least 2018 – namely the same time things began to go off the rails for the big Canadian companies – who were also first to market here.
I did not even mention in the first article that Curaleaf has won a Cannabis Cup.
My crap writing, lack of journalistic integrity, and apparent ignorance of this industry, however, was not my only “sin.” I also introduced a very highly regarded European seed company as a sponsor to High Times. Apparently “journalists” do not do that. I choose, of course, to disagree. Finding a sponsor for a digital publication, in particular, is also hardly a failure to exhibit “journalistic ethics” – a perspective that the prospective sponsor also found fairly confusing.
I am not sure when that has ever been a prerequisite for freelancing for any company, let alone High Times.
None of these are fireable offenses I have ever heard about before, but then again, you can learn something new every day.
I guess nobody with an MBA has ever written for High Times before. Or anyone who wants to get paid a bit more.
One of the more amusing parts of this entire anecdote of course, is that back in the day, Hunter Thompson wrote for the zine.
If this is not modern-day “gonzo” I don’t know what is.
Note: I reached out to High Times, Curaleaf, and 420 Pharma for a comment on this piece. Only Jon Cappetta responded with an email. Specifically, ‘Writing like this is the exact reason I decided we shouldn’t continue a professional relationship. This isn’t journalism, this is a subjective attack because you didn’t get your way. Journalism is meant to be objective, but often your writing has ulterior motives. Regardless, we wish you the best in the future.”
Read her full article
