Welcome – May 2020

Pssst. Hey there. It’s us, your pals at HQ. Is it safe to come out yet? It’s a weird question for us to be asking, we know, but keep in mind this is print media. It’s still late March where we are, but you’re reading this in May. That’s five weeks in the future for us and we have no idea what that looks like. Where we are, the world as we’ve known it seems to be hanging in the balance. Half the population is basically on house arrest while the global economy is on the verge of taking a siesta. 

We are hoping against hope that by the time this issue hits your mailbox, the world will be returning to some semblance of normal, that maybe we’ll all be wondering if we didn’t overreact just a little. We can hope. But whatever the scenario is in May of 2020, take heart. Remember that as Americans, we come from a long line of generations before us who stared into the abyss and laughed in the face of oblivion. It’s just what we do. 

So, chin up. Stay stocked and stay vigilant. You can weather this. You’re in the business of pleasure, of healing, and of aiding and abetting the pilgrims on their sacred journey. The world needs you now more than ever. 

Recent Articles

“Winter rain Now tell me why Summers fade And roses die.” – Bob Weir, “Weather Report Suite”
For years, Jennifer Mansour felt them coming. “You can’t stop one,” she said. “As soon as I’d notice that the lights felt a little too bright, I knew I was done for. I’d tell my boss, and then I’d get in the car and pop on my sunglasses because I could feel another one coming on, and I couldn’t do a thing to stop it.”
We love a good music festival here at HQ Magazine. Now that the major music festivals in the U.S. are starting to release their initial lineups, we figured it would be a great time to review some of the best 2026 music festivals in cannabis-friendly states.
An old adage tells us not to judge a book by its cover, but A Woman’s Guide to Cannabis: Using Marijuana to Feel Better, Look Better, Sleep Better–and Get High Like a Lady makes a powerful statement about the role of beauty and femininity in the cannabis industry before you even read the first page.
Sometimes, it’s good to be obsessed. In an industry heavy with similar products, it’s often the little things on the margins that separate great products from good ones.
Even without the representation and recognition they deserve, women have always been at the center of the cannabis movement.
There are objects Americans buy because they need them, and objects Americans buy because they let them be a certain kind of person. A perfectly functional version exists, usually for a fraction of the price. But the other version comes with a name, a story, and a reason to pay extra.
Walk into any warehouse rave, desert gathering, or rooftop after-hours in 2026, and you’ll feel it: the psychedelic underground is back, louder, weirder, and far more self-aware than its ‘60s predecessor ever imagined.