Last year, in recognition of California’s 25-year-long experiment with legal cannabis (in 1996, it became the first U.S. state to legalize access to medical marijuana), we compiled a list of the 25 most popular pot-related stories published in the pages — print and web — of the Los Angeles Times. We could’ve stuck with that theme by serving up 26 stories this time around, but because so much has happened on the weed front during the last 12 months, we decided to expand our list to 30 for 2022.
While many of the stories that resonated with readers the most touched on legal issues (a new state law that protects employees’ off-the-clock cannabis use, and President Biden’s federal marijuana possession pardons among them), there also seemed to be an appetite for some less-fraught fare. Readers wanted to know how Jerry Garcia’s pot pipe ended up in a Marin County antique shop, learn the real history of 420 from the guys who came up with it, and find out if it’s really worth paying $300 for a countertop joint-rolling machine.
One of The Times’ most ambitious pot projects of this year, Legal Weed, Broken Promises, proved to be particularly popular, with almost all of the stories in that series, which focused on the aftermath of the state’s decision to legalize and regulate the plant, making the most-read list.
Here’s a look at the year’s top 30 most-read cannabis-related stories published by the Los Angeles Times, listed in descending order.
