Grass (1999)

The history of the American government's war on marijuana in the 20th century.

Director:

Ron Mann

Writer:

Solomon Vesta

Stars:

Woody Harrelson, Harry J. Anslinger, George Bush

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Woody Harrelson	...	Narrator (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry J. Anslinger	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Cab Calloway	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jimmy Carter	...	Himself (archive footage)
Chevy Chase	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tommy Chong	...	Anthony 'Man' Stoner (archive footage)
Nancy Davis	...	Herself (archive footage)
Dwight D. Eisenhower	...	Himself (archive footage)
Gerald Ford	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jerry Garcia	...	Himself (archive footage)
Allen Ginsberg	...	Himself (archive footage)
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Gene Krupa	...	Himself (archive footage)
Fiorello LaGuardia	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

This film explores the history of the American government's official policy on marijuana in the 20th century. Rising with xenophobia with Mexican immigration and their taste for smoking marijuana, we see the establishment of a wrong headed federal drug policy as a crime issue as opposed to a public health approach. Fueled by prejudice, hysterical propaganda and political opportunism undeterred by voices of reason on the subject, we follow the story of a costly and futile crusade against a substance with debatable ill effects that has damaged basic civil liberties.

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Plot Keywords:

marijuana | government | drugs | anti communist | myth | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 July 2000 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Erva

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$21,578 (USA) (2 June 2000)

Gross:

$313,039 (USA) (15 September 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sphinx Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Ontario Censor Board wanted to remove some 1960s footage of some lab monkeys forced to smoke dope as it depicted animal cruelty.

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Crazy Credits

After the credits there is one more black & white clip, of a man saying that if just one person is discouraged because of the film, it was worth their time making it.

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Connections

Features Saturday Night Live (1975)

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Soundtracks

"Cocaine"
Performed by J.J. Cale

User Reviews

history of marijuana, deals with the lies from the reagon era

this movie is well worth seeing whether you are for or against legalization.

i never heard about this movie, was it even in the theaters? unlike most documentary movies this was is well put together and it was entertaining to watch.

if you read a lot of the books out there that explore hemp legalization you will find that they concur with a lot of the points raised in this movie.

i found that this movie did not do enough to discuss some of hemps medicinal advantages. also this movie did not discuss it's use as an alternative biomass fuel.

it's good to educate yourself and question whether we have been hearing the real truth over the years. check out the emporer wears no clothes. you can probably find a copy at amazon.com. that books discusses in great depth some benefits to legalizing hemp.