Thomas Forsad founded the magazine High Times.
Posted by The Briefing with Jen Psaki, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 80%
The Briefing with Jen PsakiSep 24, 2026
The sources consistently identify the founder of High Times as Thomas King Forçade (also spelled Forcade or Forsad), who was born Gary Goodson, so the claim that Thomas Forsad founded the magazine is supported. The claim's spelling is a variant of the same person's name, and the claim does not depart from the passage.
What was said
… him, but it's important to know a bit more about his background, because Thomas Forsad was not only a radical pie throwing witness, he was also a radical journalist. He ran a network of counterculture magazines called the Underground Press Syndicate, and he would go on to found the pro-cannabis magazine High Times, which is very much still in circulation today, I would note. There he is on the cover of that magazine in 1993. But back in the early 1970s, Thomas Forsyth decided to apply for a White House press pass. …
The Briefing with Jen Psaki · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The Nation's history of High Times says the magazine was founded by Thomas King Forçade, a pot smuggler and activist, and that he came up with the idea in 1974.[2]
Supports. Wikipedia's High Times entry lists Tom Forçade as founder and says the magazine was founded in 1974 by him.[4]
Supports. NORML's blog says Tom Forcade put out the first issue of High Times in 1974, and describes the magazine as the pro-pot magazine he founded.[5]
Supports. Politico's account of High Times names its founder as Gary Goodson, the birth name of Tom Forcade, which identifies the same person and confirms the founding.[3]
Supports. A podcast transcript refers to the founder as Thomas King Forsad, the spelling used in the claim, and describes him as the founder of High Times.[6]
Context. Sources differ on spelling (Forçade, Forcade, Forsad) and on the founder's birth name, but they all refer to the same person. The AP and NYT pieces confirm the magazine's 1974 origins without naming the founder.[1][7]
Sources
7 sources: 1 fact-checker, 3 tier 2, 3 not rated
- 1How 4/20 grew from humble roots to marijuana's high holidayapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2Baking Bad: A Potted History of 'High Times'thenation.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 3The Long Fall of High Timespolitico.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4High Times - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5A Founder Looks at 50: Tom Forcade, Michael J. Kennedy ...norml.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Stuff You Should Know - The Ballad of High Times Magazine ...podscripts.co · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7New Owner for High Times Magazine Bets on a ...nytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post