CANNABIS CULTURE – When it comes to magazines that will get you disowned by your conservative parents when they find them sitting next to the toilet in your apartment, VICE is at the top of the stack (above late-1980s copies of Swank and Barley Legal, and an old issue of Mother Jones with the pages stuck together).

VICE started 12 years ago as a small independent magazine based in Montreal, Canada, publishing intriguing articles like “The VICE Guide to Extreme Punishment” and “Bukkake On My Face: Welcome to the Ancient Tradition of the Japanese Facial”, and has expanded into an alternative media mega-uber-plex with foreign editions printed in 23 countries (and an even more vast circulation), a huge website, three published books, a retail clothing chain, a record label, and even a pub and music venue in Shoreditch, London.

Despite its rapid growth, the media empire has managed to keep its savage cool and its journalistic balls – a giant swollen pair of them.

The VICE website features the same kind of eye-bulging visual imagery and aggressively ironic, machete-slash prose that made the magazine one of my favorites to gasp-out-loud at. VICE’s documentaries and other videos are edgy, rugged and delightfully creative, and include a number of drug-related titles like Tripping on Hallucinogenic Frogs, Underground LSD Palace, How to Sell Drugs, and more.

When not hanging out with (and possibly divulging the whereabouts of) internationally-wanted men, or going to The Westminster Dog Show on acid, contributors to VICE are, evidently, sniffing around Vancouver’s pot community in search of juicy (journalistic) nuggets.

A film crew from VICE joined us last week high above the city of Vancouver (on the third floor) of Cannabis Culture Headquarters in Vancouver. These boys were courteous, respectful, and polite – leaving us wondering if they actually worked for VICE at all.

I managed to snap a few photos of their interview with Pot Princess (and CCHQ owner) Jodie Emery. Check them out on Flickr:

Ryan from VICE was nice enough to make an appearance on From Under the Influence with Marijuana Man (though he didn’t hit the bong) to tell us a bit about his VICEy plans for the Pot Block.

He didn’t give much away, but said we’d find out the full damage when the video is released early next year (if we make it past the apocalypse – if not, read this).

Watch VICE on Pot TV:

Check out 12 years worth of grit between your teeth and ass cheeks at VICE.