High Times Launches Kicking Back Docuseries Exploring Cannabis Culture During 2026 World Cup

High Times has unveiled its latest docuseries, Kicking Back, set to chronicle the intersection of cannabis culture and soccer as the 2026 FIFA World Cup unfolds across North America. The series will be hosted by Ethan Zohn, a former professional soccer player, Survivor: Africa winner, and co-founder of the global nonprofit Grassroot Soccer. Kicking Back aims to capture the street-level atmosphere, local rituals, and vibrant communities surrounding the tournament's 16 host cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico

Unlike traditional sports coverage, Kicking Back will focus on the off-pitch experiences that define each city’s unique identity during the World Cup. According to High Times, the show promises to highlight "the neighborhoods, the corner spots, the pickup fields, the dispensaries, the murals, the food, the fans and the local rituals that make a city feel like itself." The docuseries will feature segments such as street conversations, cannabis culture explorations, visits to iconic soccer landmarks, and a stadium-side challenge where charitable donations are triggered by the outcome

Ethan Zohn brings a deeply personal perspective to the project, shaped by his battles with cancer and his advocacy for medical cannabis. Zohn has credited cannabis, particularly CBD, with helping him manage pain, nausea, and anxiety during and after his treatment for CD20+ Hodgkin’s lymphoma. "Managing pain, nausea, sleep disruption and post-treatment anxiety led him toward medical cannabis," the show materials reveal, underscoring the authenticity he brings to the series

The format of Kicking Back is designed to be both flexible and immersive, offering premium travelogue-style episodes as well as shorter, modular segments. The show treats soccer and cannabis not as disparate interests but as parallel social languages that bring people together and open up conversations about belonging, identity, and local culture. High Times emphasizes that the series is less about scores and more about "what gathers around an event that big," using cannabis as a lens to explore each host city’s art, food, music, and community

With the World Cup set to transform cities from Mexico City to Toronto and Los Angeles to Miami, Kicking Back aspires to document the real pulse of these urban centers before the global spotlight arrives. As the project materials put it, "Cannabis and soccer are treated less like separate lanes and more like parallel social languages, things that bring people together fast." The docuseries is currently open to sponsorship opportunities, with contacts listed for interested brands

From the OG Lab newsroom perspective, Kicking Back could mark a turning point for cannabis media by embedding itself in a global sports moment rather than standing apart from it. The series’ approach of using cannabis as a gateway to deeper cultural narratives aligns with broader trends in both cannabis normalization and experiential storytelling. For the cannabis industry, this project demonstrates how integrated cannabis has become in the fabric of modern city life, especially during world-class events, and is one to watch as the 2026 World Cup approaches