Fat Nugs Magazine’s Kids and Cannabis issue tackled a tough but necessary conversation. A partner dispensary refused to carry it. What does that say about the industry’s willingness to advance the cannabis conversation?
This article is published in partnership with Fat Nugs Magazine. The views expressed are those of the author.
Cannabis has long been a fringe topic, considered loaded and not for polite company. But through the decades of prohibition and propaganda, head shops stood by the plant’s side, offering a space for uncensored conversation and cannabis media. You could always count on your local glass store to have the latest issue of High Times, among other publications. It was the one place where weed wasn’t this awful, terrible, no-good drug.
As cannabis became legal, dispensaries sought to take that place as a gathering point for the community. But what happens when a cannabis magazine becomes too controversial for dispensaries?
The Kids and Cannabis Issue Strikes a Nerve
In December 2025, Fat Nugs Magazine launched the highly anticipated Kids and Cannabis edition. This issue sought to tackle a tough but needed conversation, injecting nuance and science into a discussion often dominated by fear.
We offered conversations with doctors, mothers, fathers and scientists. The edition took a generously nuanced approach, offering fact and science to a complex topic. The cover was a stunning black and white shot of the magazine’s photographer, Paola Tello, during her own pregnancy.
The editorial team knew there may be pushback to this topic. To gauge the waters, I ran a five-part series on cannabis and motherhood, featuring five incredible women from the cannabis industry. It was received with joy and excitement. Truth be told, I was taken aback by how welcoming people were to this conversation.
Then the edition launched. A partner dispensary called. They would not feature the magazine in-store, as they had with all other past issues. It was “too much.” Instead, they said they would send the edition home with their employees. A cold consolation.
What happens to cannabis conversations when even dispensaries aren’t willing to have them? What does it say about the continued stigma around this plant that even businesses whose success is entirely dependent on people consuming cannabis will not offer a new take on an existing conversation?
Wading Into Cannabis Controversy
Though I knew that Fat Nugs was wading into controversial waters, I assumed, perhaps foolishly, that our partners would support us and that any blowback would come from outside our network. I was wrong.
“When we first decided to publish the Kids and Cannabis edition, I knew there would be some pushback, but knowing it and experiencing it were two very different things,” Dustin Hoxworth, FNM founder and editor-at-large, said. “Watching retailers hesitate to put it on their shelves and hearing major brands say they couldn’t be associated with an issue featuring kids and cannabis was a real gut punch, especially when this plant is helping children around the world with seizures and other life-threatening conditions.”
“Watching retailers hesitate to put it on their shelves and hearing major brands say they couldn’t be associated with an issue featuring kids and cannabis was a real gut punch.”
Dustin Hoxworth, Founder and Editor-at-Large, Fat Nugs Magazine
Fat Nugs exists to elevate the cannabis conversation, to turn the spotlight on topics that mainstream media avoids out of fear or prejudice. But we can’t do it alone. Cannabis media needs the support of the industry. When the industry turns its back on an important and relevant topic out of fear, everyone loses.
In an age where journalism is being silenced and writers are let go without warning, independent media is more vital than ever. We must inject fact and nuance into the conversation, or we run the risk of reverting to prohibition-era thinking.
The industry has a responsibility to support cannabis media, but it’s one that many shy away from. While writing this article, I reached out to a few companies for comment and was sadly unsurprised when they declined to be involved or associated with the topic. Any whiff of association between cannabis and complex subjects involving children makes people turn and run.
“Many talk about progress, but when standing for something carries even the slightest business risk, folks fold.”
Dustin Hoxworth, Founder and Editor-at-Large, Fat Nugs Magazine
“The cover pushed people, and that discomfort definitely showed me a hard truth: many talk about progress, but when standing for something carries even the slightest business risk, folks fold,” Hoxworth said. “To be honest, it felt like a litmus test for the industry in 2025, and in many ways the industry failed it.”
The Kids and Cannabis Issue Was, and Is, Still Needed
That is not to say that the Kids and Cannabis issue was not well-received. In many ways, this edition was welcomed with open arms.
“Seeing the Kids and Cannabis issue come to life felt really empowering for me as a parent,” Kenya Alexander, head of Marketing for NECANN and mother of three, said. “I share every issue of Fat Nugs Mag with my kids — they live in our magazine stand and are always accessible; my girls love looking at the pictures, and my son enjoys reading some of the articles. Because cannabis is talked about openly and resources like Fat Nugs Mag are accessible in our home, it feels completely normal to them, and I believe parents today have real power to eliminate stigma simply by talking to their kids.”
Thankfully, there were some in the industry who showed up for the Kids and Cannabis issue: Embarc, Grove Bags, Titan Botanicals and Green Leaf Business Solutions. No magazine can exist without its advertisers, especially not an independent one that seeks to disrupt the status quo.
Still, it’s worth comparing the support given to this issue to others, which have boasted sold-out ad space, such as the Prisoners edition.
4
The number of brands that advertised in the Kids and Cannabis issue of Fat Nugs Magazine. Other editions have sold out ad space entirely.
“We created something beautiful, educational, and deeply human, yet only four brands stepped up to support it, which told me just how deeply stigma still lives, even inside our own industry,” Hoxworth said.
But ultimately, the Kids and Cannabis issue was well-received by one particularly important group: its readers.
“What stood out was the response from readers. People cried when they saw the cover and embraced the message, which tells me we’re doing exactly what we’re supposed to be doing — pushing conversations forward while the industry works to catch up,” Hoxworth said.
“I loved this issue. I was thrilled to see the cover and the issue. I wish I had Fat Nugs when I was birthing and raising kids. I wish I knew about cannabis during childbirth,” Tanya Griffen, mother and serial cannabis entrepreneur, said. “This normalizes cannabis so much. When people inside the industry are the ones shaming us, where does that fit? The operators are the gatekeepers, who dictate the behavior of our industry. There is no room for this kind of shame. We are capable of making our own decisions for our children and ourselves. Stop shaming your buddies.”
“Stop shaming your buddies.”
Tanya Griffen, mother and serial cannabis entrepreneur
But because humans are funny, neurotic creatures, the one place we got pushback took precedence over all of the praise and excitement. I couldn’t shake this sense of frustration and betrayal that a partner dispensary would refuse the Kids and Cannabis issue.
Was it the cover photo? Did they even read the articles? Does that, ultimately, matter?
The Cost of Advancing the Cannabis Conversation
As an independent media organization, Fat Nugs feels a keen responsibility to push the conversation around the plant forward, elevating cannabis to its rightful place in society. That conversation has always been met with pushback.
But I question the kind of change it signals when dispensaries push back on cannabis media covering difficult topics — when even the traditional home of the safe space for the plant is no longer safe.
Cannabis is not a perfect plant. It does not work for everyone. But it is also true that we have hardly scratched the surface of what the hundreds of cannabinoids in these flowers can do for people across different stages of life. To advance means tackling tough and uncomfortable conversations.
It is my hope that our knowledge of cannabis advances by leaps and bounds within my lifetime. That someday, when the Kids and Cannabis issue is a prized collector’s item, like the early issues of High Times, I look back and can hardly believe this conversation was ever controversial at all.
This article is published in partnership with Fat Nugs Magazine. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of High Times. This article is editorial commentary and does not constitute medical advice.
