Grass

'Grass' is a war documentary. From small beginnings, this war has escalated throughout the 20th century, costing billions of dollars, with no resolve in sight.

This sociological piece favors one side, that of legalization, and an end to the war on drugs. 'Grass' raises questions that, whatever your feelings towards the drug, are due for some objective debate. The subject matter is exclusively Grass in America, with only occasional mention of other drugs or countries.

Grass hurtles through a fascinating account of the social and political history of marijuana in the US. Important bills, social movements, and other events are documented in an appropriately mellow manner. The production is mostly stock footage with clever animations dispersed to signal a new law or time period. The soundtrack delivered the required music; 'One toke over the line', some Louis Armstrong and the Peter Tosh classic 'Legalize it'.

While largely focusing on the socio/politics of marijuana there is also an effort to dispel many of the myths of user effects. Humorous interviews and 'informational video's' from all eras show attempts by lobby groups to portray pot as Satan in a plant. It is made clear that there is no evidence that the drug causes insanity, perversion, and homicidal behavior. Just what the drugs effects really are, the documentary admits, is almost entirely unknown.

'Grass' is not a pot adventure; it doesn't advocate use. The focus is a condemnation of American belief that throwing people in jail will change individuals private practices.

I watched this right after completing a research paper on marijuana policy, and it was certainly a nice break after working entirely out of dry text. Much easier on the eyes than hundreds of pages of tiny type.

There certainly is a lot of stuff this movie left out, including some of the funnier things (such as the marijuana murder trials of 1938, or the 120-second Congressional hearings for the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act), but it definitely gets the point across in a colorful, often rather silly way complete with movie clips, weird songs, goofy video-game graphics, old-ranting-politician footage, and some of the more ludicrous public service announcements. The cultural bent makes it much less dry than most of the strictly historical, legal and political reading I've done, which is saying a bit as the legal history is pretty entertaining.

Just in case you somehow miss the point (or forget about it while watching Cab Calloway tap-dance), Grass makes a heavy point of repeatedly pointing out the escalating amounts of money spent on this unobtrusive little weed, and highlights the blatant lies the public has been subjected to over the past century by reiterating "The Truth" for every decade or so.

The only real downside to the movie is that it skipped over the disclaimer that every marijuana decriminalization piece really needs to have in it somewhere: There is no such thing as an entirely safe drug.

In conclusion, I would recommend this movie quite highly if you're looking to be introduced to the subject in a tolerably entertaining fashion, or if you're sick of reading and want something a little more audially/visually stimulating. For real information on the drug, however, I'd recommend reading "Marihuana: a Signal of Misunderstanding" instead.

I find reviews interesting in that they tell us what the "reviewer" got out of the movie. I will try to give a true review, and I believe a true "review" tells what point the movie was making. Of course this would be what I got out of the movie, so is it a true review. Maybe the only way for a person to really know what a movie is about is to watch it and not worry about what someone else thought of it. I think this movie was written as a "documentary" and it documents the propaganda about drug from the beginning of the century. It attempts to show those of us who have seen the current propaganda our how it has been presented over the generations. I saw the point as being how serious the subject is taken now, and how we are told that the current law is based on the facts, when their facts came from a propaganda campaign. And if you look deep enough you will see that that propaganda campaign was perpetrated for the interest of Big Business. The purpose of the "war against marijuana" is not to eliminate the use. It is to prevent the growth of hemp which competes with the cotton industry, petroleum industry, paper industry, etc. It is also interesting that we continue to let the propaganda confuse the marijuana plant with the hemp plant.

Laugh your arse off. This hilarious documentary is a real eye opener if you don't your history of the war on marajuana. The long and stupid war on the weed is just one of many misteps by the U.S. government that the mainstream media seems to ignore!?! I saw this at the Music Box theater downtown Chicago which only added to the fun. As a documentary though it missed a couple of things. It forgot to mention William Randolph Hearst's deep involvment with the war. He did after all run the huge media conglomorate that supported Anslinger's view. Hearst went on to be portrayed unflatteringly in Citizen Kane. There is barely a mention of Reagan/Bush/Clinton the trio of presidents who have more to fight this unwinnable war then any of their preddosessors. No mention of the fact that Hemp plants were indeed grown by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Andrew Jackson. The last three grew it on the White House lawn!!! As a documentary however it seems a bit one sided and therefore guilty of the very thing anti drug people are. But then again Freedom is a one sided thing, you either have it or you don't. The movie is also a bit biased in that it puts marajuana on a pedistal and ignores the fact that even though harsher drugs like cocaine and heroin are harmful, laws against them are completely and totally unconstitutional. Makes you think though, if the U.S. government is so eager to abuse their power like this, is it really a great idea to repeal the second amendment or limit it in so many way? Now I'm sounding preachy. Go see this movie with some friends, have a jay outside, and laugh at highlights from old movies like Reefer Madness, and Up In Smoke. Laugh at the directors keen sense of ironic humor. And remember that what you know just might kill you.

Woody Harrelson narrates on a very interesting and highly informative documentary on the history of US law and drug policy regarding the highly controversial substance cannabis. Highly entertaining and witty with a vast collection of clips and videotapes of politicians, musicians and pot parties. Yet again, the US government has egg on its face as the amount of money spent on the war on marijuana rises, along with the amount of people using it. Exposing some of the blatant ignoring of government reports and findings, Grass moves along a good pace and doesn't get too carried away at any point with statements of how great cannabis, mostly just the facts. However, there is a lot more to the plant that has obviously not been included, as the film focuses around the efforts made by the US government only, and not cannabis as a whole.

Definitely an interesting film, with lots to learn from it, but by no means the definitive word on cannabis.