Grass

Consider this a documentary for those who inhaled. Ron Mann\'s playful portrait of marijuana in America is less a social history than an examination of the government\'s systematic seven-decade campaign to demonize the devil\'s weed: the conspiracy against cannabis! Through government documents, period newsreels, and clips from hysterical educational scare films and campy overheated features (like High on the Range and the cult classic Reefer Madness), Mann reveals a systematic policy of misinformation to (he argues) justify the billions spent on the losing war on drugs. Well researched if one-sided and occasionally questionable in its own assertions (aren\'t there any side effects to this wonder weed?), this witty history lesson is charged with raucous energy and a satirical slant. Mann and his easygoing narrator Woody Harrelson may be preaching to the converted, but it\'s a hilarious sermon. Pass the munchies! --Sean Axmaker (Amazon)