Heads Together. Weed and the Underground Press Syndicate 1965–1973

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, weed-dealer, 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 weed-inspired “spot illustratios”. Heads Together collects these drawings, shining a light on lesser-known names in the stoner-art canon, and many who weren’t 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. Activist-oriented, psychedelic rolling papers are showcased too. As pot now fast-tracks toward legalization in the U. S. and beyond, its once incendiary status is brought into odd relief. Pot’s 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.

Review :
The art in 'Heads Together' 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.--David Jacob Kramer "Studio XYZ" Heads Together' also tells the story of how the UPS spawned an unlikely publishing boom, and the marijuana legalization movement that churned within it.--Ariela Bard "The Australian" The first true modern cannabis lifestyle magazine for the 21st Century consumer.--David Jacob Kramer "Hii Magazine" Throughout, there is a wide-ranging infiltration of weed content, from observations recorded by the only psychiatrist doing government-sanctioned marijuana studies to detailed Grower's Guides, 'Narcbuster' bulletins, and scratchy spot illustrations of Disney characters getting high. This was a different time, when people believed the revolution just might come from getting high.--Dana Covit "Broccoli Magazine" I'm seeing people flipping through the book and feeling inspired to make creative work. So, the spirit of the Underground Press Syndicate is still alive.-- "The Smoking Spot" Heads Together is a fascinating, comprehensive chronicle of the magazines and newspapers of pot. Selecting this material must have been a real head-nip for the editor; for the reader, leafing through its prismatic ephemera can get you a little high.--Todd McEwen "Apollo" Heads Together serves as a captivating look into the pathway that was etched out for the eventual legalization of weed...shines a much-needed new light on the counterculture movement of the 1960s and '70s.--Cassidy Anthony "Different Leaf" Artfully designed...it's a spicy version of a late 1960s rag.--J. Hoberman "New York Review of Books" Fascinating, comprehensive...leafing through its prismatic ephemera can get you a little high.-- "Apollo" Powerfully demonstrate[s] the effectiveness of art to express the outsider voice, garner and galvanize far-flung communities, and advance and bolster the work of social justice and cultural progress.--Shana Nys Dambrot "LA Weekly"