Marijuana Movie Night
Whoa! Get off your high horse; I’m not trying to persuade you to light up a joint, put on a film, and groove. On the other hand, I wouldn’t try to dissuade you, either. There are three documentaries on DVD with summer 2011 release dates: Hempsters Plant the Seed (June 28), High Times Presents Nico Escondido’s Grow Like a Pro (July 26), and A NORML Life: The American Marijuana Revolution (August 16). We haven’t seen a good film about pot since Reefer Madness, so it’s time to indulge (in marijuana-related films, not marijuana; although I am still going for daily glaucoma screenings…just in case).
Hempsters starts with Woody Harrelson’s challenge to Kentucky state law. He planted four feral hemp seeds (1996) and was subsequently arrested. Brought to trial and acquitted, Harrelson became a leading activist in the fight to legalize hemp. Also participating in Hempsters are Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Ralph Nader, Julia “Butterfly” Hill, Donna Cockrel, the Kentucky Hemp Growers Co-op, Alex White Plume and the Lakota Indians, and Gatewood Galbraith, an independent who is currently running for Governor of Kentucky.
Hempsters is not about fighting for your right to party—it is about sustainability and “going green.” Director Michael Henning provides a mini-curriculum on the history of hemp in the United States; its prospective uses; health, legal, cultural, scientific, industrial, and ecological considerations. Viewers will discover that “any product that can be made from petroleum oils can also be produced by hemp,” and that “Hemp is a durable fiber that can be used for paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food, and fuel."
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