A quarter century of weed: High Times magazine editor in chief, Steve Hager. PHOTO: Mark Valenta

unched over the glow of a purple iMac in his fifth floor Park Avenue South office, Steve Hager dreams of creating a tie-dye alternative to CNN. "We'd show long-haired hippies talking about what's really going on," he says. "The CIA drug running and covert operations. This kind of news wouldn't be your lost cat bullshit you see on the regular news."

Hager is the editor in chief of High Times magazine, a glossy, full-color, 200,000 circulation monthly devoted to marijuana. Recent features have included: "Stoned in Saigon," "the Top 25 Stoner Movies," "Growing Pot in Small Places," "Make Hash: A New Guide for Experts and Beginners" and interviews with Easy Rider actor Dennis Hopper, Snoop Doggy Dog and Ozzie Osbourne. ("Ozzie didn't want to be photographed smoking pot, just playing with it," says senior editor, Steve Bloom.)

Senior editor Steve Bloom, organizer of the High Times film awards — the Stonys. PHOTO: Mark Valenta

Hager's office is a cavern of counterculture. It's dark, and the shades are drawn. The only light comes from the computer monitor and the soft glow of a lamp in the corner. Hanging on a wall behind him is a blanket with a purple phoenix, its claws clutching a flaming marijuana leaf. A water bong with a USA flag sticker in the shape of a two-fingered peace sign sits on a cabinet. And a bookshelf beside a black leather sofa is lined with videos and books such as "Sea of Green Volume II. Closet Cultivation," "Pot Stories for the Soul" and "Wildman Weiner's Need, Greed, Weed."

ager supports marijuana use with missionary zeal. "Imagine you're at the beginning stages of a major religion," he says, pacing the room. "All the big ceremonies haven't been invented. That's where we are — a hybrid of Buddism, Hinduism, Native American spiritualism. And marijuana is our sacrament."

Hager sees marijuana users as a minority culture under siege by a malicious and misguided government, particularly New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and U.S. Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey who called High Times "a cadre of wrong-headed individuals."

"We're the Jews! We're going to the concentration camps!" he shouts as the circumference of his eyes opens wide. Rapping his knuckles on a wooden coffee table, he shouts, "Hellloooooooo! Peace. Love. Nonviolence. Okay? Do we need to have a war on people like this? Do we need to lock them in jail? Just like we wiped out the native Americans. They were all shot down by gattling guns because they were doing the ghost dance!"

A High Times blanket — flammable, but not smokeable. PHOTO: Mark Valenta

"Did you know the first American flag was made of marijuana? The Conastoga wagons that settled the West — made of marijuana! All the soldiers at Valley Forge — their clothes were made of marijuana! The sails on Columbus' ships — what were their names? — all marijuana! They wouldn't have made it out of the dock if it wasn't for marijuana! Now imagine it's Rome and I'm a Christian. I could be put in jail. That's our real story."

Senior editor Steve Bloom pokes his head into Hager's office. Bloom is organizing the High Times film awards, called the Stonys, honoring marijuana in the movies. The award statue is a water pipe. And it's missing.

"Have you seen the Stony bong?" asks Bloom.

"Yeah," says Hager, walking to the filing cabinet. "Unfortunately somebody put some pot in it."

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