Product Details

• Actors: Woody Harrelson, Harry J. Anslinger, George Bush, Cab Calloway, Jimmy Carter
• Directors: Ron Mann
• Writers: Solomon Vesta
• Producers: Ron Mann, Keith Clarkson, Marc Glassman, Sue Len Quon
• Format: Black & White, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Homevision
• VHS Release Date: July 23, 2002
• Run Time: 80 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000067JCI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #439,895 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This playful documentary from Ron Mann (Comic Book Confidential) is less a social history of marijuana than a satirical portrait of the American government's systematic seven-decade campaign to demonize the devil's weed. Mann excerpts hysterical educational scare films, clips from campy overheated features like Reefer Madness and High on the Range, and a hilarious anti-drug spot by an obviously stoned Sonny Bono to contrast decades of exaggeration and blatant misinformation with two official (and subsequently ignored) government studies that find pot to be a relatively harmless drug, both less addictive and less dangerous than either alcohol or cigarettes. Narrated in an easy, conversational tone by hemp activist Woody Harrelson, it's a well-researched and smartly organized argument against the war on drugs, at least this drug. And Mann makes no pretense at balance: he's preaching to the converted with a sarcastic sermon. When the official record is missing, he even fabricates his own slyly ironic mock newsreels and newspaper clippings, which undercut the strength of the real documents but never hurts his case as a whole. This witty history lesson is a thinking man's Reefer Madness for the pro-pot movement. --Sean Axmaker

From The New Yorker

A clever documentary about the government's war on marijuana that avoids the one-too-many-tokes humor that can mar such projects. Director Ron Mann footnotes his diatribe with hilarious government propaganda films that demonstrate the many shifts in official policy: weed will make you crazy, sex-crazed, heroin-addicted, lethargic, and on and on. The film's unlikely heroes are Fiorello LaGuardia, who commissioned his own study of marijuana (the results of which were suppressed by Harry J. Anslinger, the first head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics) and Jimmy Carter, who ran for the Presidency on a pro-legalization platform. Hemp activist Woody Harrelson narrates. -Michael Agger
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Docu, GREAT Visuals!, March 24, 2003

By 

K. Brown "El Rudo Lucky Pierre!" (Walnut, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Grass (DVD)

Yes, this documentary is an unashamed pro salute to the spidery green hoppy-plant. It is also a very good one, and spotlights the most ludricrous arguments against decriminilization of the wacky weed.

This film explains how early 20th century lawmakers used every tool from racial and ethnic prejudice, intimidation, exaggeration, and censorship in order to portray marijuana as an extremely dangerous drug.

There is fascinating film footage covering New York's Mayor LaGuardia's unbiased six year study on the effects of marijuana, and the subsequent efforts of narcotic agent Anslinger's efforts to silence the findings.

Art direction by underground art legend Paul Mavrides, and visual editing by David Biedny deserves mention because this flick is awesome to watch. The animation and graphics riddling the video throughout are a very hep work of art in itself.

In summary, this video is propaganda for fans of grass. If you want a truly balanced general view of drug laws in the United States, look for The History Channel's recent documentary series. But whether you are pro or anti pot, and are focused enough to analyze both sides of the argument, this film is mandatory viewing for the documented facts and the newsreel footage alone, some of which I have not seen elsewhere.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grass DVD Review, February 18, 2002

By 

Xam "mixed media man" (nyc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grass (DVD)

This awesome documentary looks at the prohibition against cannabis/hemp/marijuana in the US. The movie is composed entirely of historical footage, and chronicles the beginning of the war against marijuana up to the present. It shows the true racist beginnings of the first laws against marijuana. There's alot of footage of Harry Anslinger's massive propaganda campaign, which is truly laughable now. The movie is quite funny, this is because all the government propaganda against pot has been so ridiculous and exaggerated over the years ("If you smoke it, you will go INSANE and KILL people!"). The movie shows how the public and media's attitude changed about pot, but the government failed to respond to ever-growing legalization demands. You're also presented the monetary figures on the war against marijuana over the years, it increases dramatically (till this very day).

Mann picked the best parts of old films and newsreels, and used nice collage techniques to link them together, which makes the movie very enjoyable to watch. Along with the incredible soundtrack, which is mostly old pot songs with some cool original tracks (like the opening credit music). There are even some really cool animations, and to top it off, Woody Harrelson does a nice job of narrating.

The DVD includes a few extras, but nothing to get very excited about. The creator of Grass, Ron Mann, has a short interview where he comes across as being very stoned. A deleted opening sequence is also included, which is interesting but not that great. I was excited about the High Times magazine gallery, thinking it was gonna be every single High Times cover ever printed! Unfortunately they only included about 25 covers, which is disappointing (they could have easily included every cover). NORML provided a state-by-state marijuana legal reference guide (you can choose which state to read about), this turned out to be the best extra feature. High-definition transfer for 16x9 televisions and dolby digital is always nice too. Overall I really love this DVD, mainly because the movie is so great. The DVD picture and sound quality is good, and the extras are decent. I HIGHLY recommend picking this one up.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hey dude, pass the..er- videotape!, November 21, 2002

By 

D. Hartley (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grass [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Unique, well-produced documentary dealing (no pun intended) with the history of marijuana criminalization in the United States. Far from a dry history lesson, the film takes a Michael Moore-style approach-building its own "counter-myth" by exposing the hypocrisy of the anti-marijuana propaganda machine over the years, from the 1930's infamous "Reefer Madness" movie to the Reagan administration's sophmoric "Just Say No" media campaign of the 1980's. There is also a fascinating on-going tally of all the tax money the government's various law-enforcement agencies have wasted attempting to eradicate marijuana usage since the days of Elliott Ness. The film's masterful use of well-chosen period music, hilariously ironic film clips and outstanding sound editing recalls the award winning 80's documentary about the Cold War, "The Atomic Cafe". Actor Woody Harrelson (who's had his own infamous, herb-related off-screen legal problems) does a bang-up job with the narration. Even if you disagree with the politics, you're likely to find this one quite informative and "highly" (er-sorry!) entertaining.