Grass

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amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write("<a href=javascript:popUp('http://buybox.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=reelmoviecriticc&link_code=xsc&creative=23424&camp=2025&path=/dt/assoc/tg/aa/xml/assoc/-/B0000633SE/reelmoviecriticc/ref=ac_bb1_,_amazon')><img src=http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/remote-buy-box/buy1.gif border=0 alt='Buy from Amazon.com' ></a>"); document.close(); </script> <noscript> <form method="POST" action="http://buybox.amazon.com/o/dt/assoc/handle-buy-box=B0000633SE"> <input type="hidden" name="asin.B0000633SE" value="1"> <input type="hidden" name="tag-value" value="reelmoviecriticc"> <input type="hidden" name="tag_value" value="reelmoviecriticc"> <input type="image" name="submit.add-to-cart" value="Buy from Amazon.com" border="0" alt="Buy from Amazon.com" src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/add-to-cart.gif"> </form> </noscript>  </B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> <B>Grass *** (Not Rated)</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> <B>Reviewed By George O. Singleton</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="588" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 49 ><NOBR><div> <B>Government control over alcohol, tobacco, the lottery and pot is all about  </B></div> <div> <B>power and politics</B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Film Documentary with everyday people, drug enforcement officials and Presidents, from FDR to Clinton. Directed by: Ron Mann</div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: <I>Grass</I> presents the liberal perspective of the controversy on the treatment of marijuana and its relationship to the conservative right; the people who use the drug plus legalization and de criminalization issues.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Filmed without the traditional documentary approach, <I>Grass</I> comes across more as a look at popular culture and the politics of power, rather than a history lesson. And like all history, those that survive live to tell about it from their point of view. Starting in the early 1900's, the first laws on marijuana were in Texas, to control Mexican immigration. It was a recreational drug of choice, and these laws were enacted to make sure the Mexicans didn't feel too comfortable after they finished a long day at low wage, temporary jobs. </div> <bR> <div> After the prohibition of alcohol ended, the conservative right focused on marijuana as a sin that needed to be controlled.  Harry J. Anslinger, the first head of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics, pursued pot users with a zeal reserved for the criminally insane, which he believed they were, or would become. He received the support of Presidents FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson in his long tenured position. </div> <bR> <div> Film clips of pot users, high and out of control, is interspersed with highlights of meetings with various presidents to sign legislation to control its use. As there are no first person interviews to provide segues to the next clip, the device of using a business chart to show, for a given number of years, how much money was spent by the government on enforcement. In the period 1970-1977, $76 <B>Billion </B>was spent and for 1980-1998, $215 <B>Billion</B>!!</div> <bR> <div> With those types of deterrent dollars, major choices are being made regarding what to fix in our society. For example, the shortfall in Social Security, cancer research or other things could be addressed. NASA is not getting all it wants and that may be the key to a sustainable population on this earth. A high standard of living for an ever-growing population requires research and new discoveries.</div> <bR> <div> If there is a point to the film, it's not that marijuana should be legalized but that there is no meaningful discussion of our costly war on drugs. Politicians are afraid to deal with it, knowing that if they are labeled "pro drugs," it will be hard, if not impossible, to win reelection. </div> <bR> <div> Clearly the issue is 100% politics. With the right wingers losing on alcohol, civil rights and then abortion, they needed a victory. They are too powerful at the voting booth to be ignored, and that is what a democracy is all about. There is give and take from different constituencies. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It:</B> What I find sinister, and of great concern, is how drug laws are used to "keep minorities in their place." In the early 1960's, when films largely ignored interracial relationships, the government made a film on drug use with blacks and whites, where the unmistakable message was that if you don't want your daughter getting pregnant by a black man, they need to stay off of weed. </div> <bR> <div> Related to this is the major disparity between the imprisonment of blacks and whites for violation of drug laws. Because of the economic gap between the races, as a generalization, blacks use crack cocaine and whites use cocaine. However, the mandatory sentencing minimums for cocaine are far less severe than for crack. The result is that blacks make up approximately 62% of prisoners incarcerated on drug charges, while whites make up 36%. Black men are sent to prison at a rate of 57 times that of whites for drug charges. </div> <bR> <div> In some ways, <I>Grass</I> effectively communicates why the drug should be legalized. It strongly suggests reasons it should not be a crime to use it. But as compared to alcohol, one can't help but think that some type of control might be in order. A person high from pot can be just as dangerous as one drunk from alcohol, who is behind the wheel of an automobile. </div> <bR> <div> The conservative right could not weather the storm to keep alcohol illegal, because its use was so widespread and commonplace. When something is taken away that we like, we really do know what we are missing. Even though marijuana is used by many people today, were it to be legalized, the chances of getting weed with something truly harmful in it would be far less likely if it were a controlled substance.</div> <bR> <div> Oregon removed criminal penalties from marijuana, and the only change was that people did not get criminal records for using the drug. Making it legal would deliver a two-prong benefit for taxpayers: 1) tax revenues would sky rocket and 2) enforcement could be directed toward producers who don't meet a high standard of product quality. In a few months, another film, titled <A HREF="id752.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Traffic"><U><I><B>Traffic</B></I></U></A><A HREF="id752.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Traffic"><U>,</U></A> will deal with the war on drugs and promises to be both entertaining and informative. Starring in the film are well know actors such as Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.</div> <bR> <div> The narrator of <I>Grass </I>is actor Woody Harrelson, also a well-known activist. As I recall, he climbed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to make a point about cutting down trees or something along that line. If marijuana gave him the courage to climb the bridge, it shows that, like alcohol, there is a time and place for everything.  </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Not Rated (Suggested For Mature Audiences)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> George O. Singleton © 2000</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>