Grass (1999 film)
Encyclopedia
Grass: History of Marijuana is a 1999 Canadian documentary film
directed by Ron Mann
, premiered in Toronto Film Festival
, about the history of the United States
government's war on marijuana
in the 20th century.
(the first American drug czar) who promoted false information about marijuana to the American public as a means towards abolition.
The film follows the history of federal policies and social attitudes towards marijuana, beginning at the turn of the twentieth century. The history presented is broken up into parts, approximately the length of a decade. Each decade is introduced by paraphrasing the official attitude towards marijuana at the time (e.g. "Marijuana will make you insane" or "Marijuana will make you addicted to heroin"), and closed by providing a figure for the amount of money spent during that period on the "war on marijuana
."
The film is completely composed of archival footage, much of which is from public domain
U.S
propaganda film
s and feature films such as Reefer Madness
made available by the Prelinger Archives
. The documentary was narrated, free-of-charge, by actor Woody Harrelson
.
, and 71% 'fresh' on Rotten Tomatoes
. The film became a cult hit within the cannabis subculture.
The film has also won Canada's Genie Award
for Best Documentary.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Ron Mann
Ron Mann
Ronald "Ron" Mann is a Canadian documentary film director focusing primarily on aspects of Canadian and American popular culture. He does most of his work through his company Sphinx Productions, while also running a film distribution company on the side called 'FilmsWeLike'. Mann has also put...
, premiered in Toronto Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
, about the history of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government's war on marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
in the 20th century.
Overview
The film places much of the blame for marijuana criminalization on Harry AnslingerHarry J. Anslinger
Harry Jacob Anslinger held office as the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner in the Bureau of Prohibition, before being appointed as the first Commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics on August 12, 1930.Anslinger held office an unprecedented 32 years in his role...
(the first American drug czar) who promoted false information about marijuana to the American public as a means towards abolition.
The film follows the history of federal policies and social attitudes towards marijuana, beginning at the turn of the twentieth century. The history presented is broken up into parts, approximately the length of a decade. Each decade is introduced by paraphrasing the official attitude towards marijuana at the time (e.g. "Marijuana will make you insane" or "Marijuana will make you addicted to heroin"), and closed by providing a figure for the amount of money spent during that period on the "war on marijuana
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
."
The film is completely composed of archival footage, much of which is from public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
U.S
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
propaganda film
Propaganda film
The term propaganda can be defined as the ability to produce and spread fertile messages that, once sown, will germinate in large human cultures.” However, in the 20th century, a “new” propaganda emerged, which revolved around political organizations and their need to communicate messages that...
s and feature films such as Reefer Madness
Reefer Madness
Reefer Madness is a well-known 1936 American propaganda exploitation film revolving around the melodramatic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try "marijuana" — from a hit and run accident, to manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape, and descent into madness...
made available by the Prelinger Archives
Prelinger Archives
The Prelinger Archives is a collection of films relating to U.S. cultural history, the evolution of the American landscape, everyday life and social history...
. The documentary was narrated, free-of-charge, by actor Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
.
Critical reception
The film was generally well-received by critics, scoring 64 out of 100 in MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, and 71% 'fresh' on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. The film became a cult hit within the cannabis subculture.
The film has also won Canada's Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
for Best Documentary.
See also
- Decriminalization of marijuana in the United States
- Legal and medical status of cannabisLegal and medical status of cannabisCannabis is in Schedule IV of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, making it subject to special restrictions. Article 2 provides for the following, in reference to Schedule IV drugs:...
- Legal history of marijuana in the United StatesLegal history of marijuana in the United StatesThe legal history of cannabis in the United States relates to the regulation of marijuana use for medical or recreational purposes in the United States. Regulations and restrictions on the sale of Cannabis sativa as a drug began as early as 1860...
- Marijuana rescheduling in the United StatesCannabis rescheduling in the United StatesIn the United States, all preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes are currently classified under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the most tightly restricted category reserved for drugs which have "no currently accepted...
External links
- Grass at Box Office MojoBox Office MojoBox Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...