Wow, did maskedmenace hate this little documentary film in their review! The vehemence really surprises me as there was a lot of value in this film, though of course we all are welcome to our opinions. The only thing I do agree with this other review about is that the film presents lots of anecdotal evidence to say that marijuana CAN be bad for you and this type of evidence, though compelling, isn't scientific. However, based on my work in a drug rehab center and now as a school teacher, my experience is that the film was dead on--some pot users waste their lives and move on to other harder drugs. This true, though as the film points out, not everyone who uses pot becomes an addict or uses harder drugs. In this sense, the film is very balanced and takes a far less dogmatic approach than maskedmenace or me. For example, one of the people interviewed admitted that many who use don't waste their lives but that it's not worth taking that chance. Another said that you may end up "neglecting life". I've seen many kids in my high school who have done just that---so what's wrong with this message? This is especially true since the film is rather low-key and recommends you don't just take one person's opinion about pot but to check out the facts yourself. What's wrong with that?! Plus, and let's be frank here, non-users usually think pot-heads are idiots and they're not much fun to be with--always laughing for no apparent reason and often neglecting their future.
A well done film that is balanced and insightful. While it might have improved given some hard scientific data, this film is a great tool to show your young kids--even if some of them will laugh at it. Parents, just ignore the harsh language--it's just the way addicts talk and kids need to see this side of life to know what could await them. Thinking you are sheltering kids from drugs probably does more to encourage drug use than anything else--so talk about it with them.