Director: Fab 5 Freddy
Rating: 5/5
I saw some other films on legalisation of cannabis and therefore I am familiar with the narrative on who blocked legalisation and who made it illegal in the US in the first place.
However, what I did not know is that cannabis originates from the Black community and that it has been historically used to imprison the Blacks and show them as a menace in society. However, this is not the only problem this film addresses. The film also addresses the paradox of marijuana getting legalised in the US and thus becoming a big business, however, Blacks are being left out of it. Not only that many Blacks do not have the money to invest into becoming owners of dispensaries, many cannot be legal cannabis dispensaries because they have a criminal record, no more no less but for using cannabis in the first place.
Therefore, this film questions the war on cannabis in the context of a social and cultural war against the Black community and the general racism against the Blacks.
As such, this film is refreshing and eye-opening, and yet another attempt of Netflix to right the wrong and to raise difficult questions. What is more, Netflix is again on the right side of history challenging racism.
The film is also well made, and the speakers are eloquent, knowledgeable and in some instances quite funny. Definitely worth watching whether you use cannabis and thus have a vested interest in the issue, or if you are like me and just want to know more about the war against the plant that many claims cure many diseases.
Thank you for reading.