The Union: The Business Behind Getting High (2007)

Director:

Brett Harvey

Writers:

Brett Harvey (writer)
Adam Scorgie (co-creator)

Release Date:

8 June 2007 (Canada)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

BC's illegal marijuana trade industry has evolved into a business giant, dubbed by some involved as 'The Union'...

Plot Keywords:

Business | Cannabis | Marijuana | Marc Emery | Interview

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Chris Bennett	...	Himself
George Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Larry Campbell	...	Himself
Rielle Capler	...	Himself
Tommy Chong	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Jack A. Cole	...	Himself
John Conroy	...	Himself
Greg Cooper	...	Himself
Stephen Easton	...	Himself
Marc Emery	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Lester Grinspoon	...	Himself (as Dr. Lester Grinspoon)
Paul Hornby	...	Himself
Perry Kendall	...	Himself
Mark Klokeid	...	Himself
Dana Larsen	...	Himself
Cheech Marin	...	Himself (archive footage)
Todd McCormick	...	Himself
Jeffrey Miron	...	Himself
Richard Nixon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Darryl Plecas	...	Himself
Joe Rogan	...	Himself
Craig X. Rubin	...	Himself
Norm Stamper	...	Himself
Kirk Tousaw	...	Himself
Jesse Ventura	...	Himself (archive footage)
Watermelon	...	Herself
Greg Williams	...	Himself

Runtime:

Canada:104 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada

An indictment against freedom in America.

I was pleasantly surprised by this documentary. As a non-user of cannabis viewing what had to be just another pro-cannabis argument, I had low expectations. My expectations were wrong.

This documentary has about as much to say about North American Society as a whole as it has to say about the legalization of marijuana. Taken in its greater context, the documentary is about how Society allows limits of personal freedom to evolve. The documentary uses the example of the 1920's Prohibition on alcohol to demonstrate how Society can change to allow something within its perceived bounds of decency, for which it previously tossed people in jail. I have seen in my own lifetime the legalization of homosexuality, which also finds its roots in Canada, initiated as it was by a visionary Prime Minister named Pierre Trudeau. What a less tolerant society once restricted through oppression to dark, secret places, it is now allowing freely, even if it is all still happening in dark, secret places. If Society had finally recognized that these prohibited things could not be eliminated, Society may have also recognized that they would at least not be promoted by legalizing them. Not everyone is happy with either societal change, but the majority are. We are now seeing the evolution of acceptance of cannabis in Society. But that's not the point. To me the documentary is not about cannabis. It is about disparities of freedom.

The point is driven home by an exposé on the United States penal system, a system run to a great extent by private corporations who's primary interest, by definition, is to make money. What the documentary helps the objective viewer to realize is America's is not as free a Society as many, if not most, others in the world, and it helps the objective viewer realize, if chillingly, the reason why.