The high life and times of the weed Willy Wonka

DJ Short has been researching, growing, and consuming prodigious amounts of cannabis since the 1970s. Thirty years spent tinkering with seeds in small grow cupboards has produced subtle strains of the plant, and made Short himself a figure of reverence among the cannabis community. Grantland’s Jason Fagone met with the “Willy Wonka of pot” at Seattle’s Hempfest — where marijuana is quasi-legal — to discuss a life spent chasing the most exquisite high, and to work out why dealing drugs doesn’t necessarily make someone rich.