Keep Off the Grass (1969)

[music] Tom, these um these are yours. Yeah, they're mine. Oh, Tom, how could you? Mother, it's only grass. I'm not a dope fiend. I want to have a talk with you, Tom. Louise. Like all too many of his contemporaries, Tom is experimenting with something he knows little about. Something about which too little is known by anyone. Marijuana. It's a scene which must have been played out countless times in countless ways. All equally heartbreaking. The father-son confrontation. Mom smokes like a chimney. And you have a drink every day and smoke too. It's not the same. Why not? It's easy for you to stand there with a cigarette in one hand and a drink in another and tell us not to blow a pot. If you really considered all the consequences, there's not a shred of evidence that marijuana is any worse than nicotine or alcohol. You can get cancer. Your liver can rot away. Let's say you're right. You rather look down on my generation for getting hung up on smoking and drinking, knowing it's bad for us. You think we're stupid. Maybe you're right. But does that make your generation so all fired smart for getting hung up on grass? You can be harmed by that, too. Or or do you have double standards when it comes to our smoking and drinking and you're blowing pot? Pot isn't bad for you. Oh, isn't it? How do you know? Studies concerning marijuana's possibly harmful effects have been made, although they're not yet conclusive. But some facts are known. Some effects have been established. There are apparently few physical manifestations, a reening of the eyes, lowered body temperature, and a certain inability to coordinate movement. But there are other effects, psychological effects. The marijuana user generally experiences an uncontrollable feeling of hilarity. Quite without reason, he exhibits a marked carelessness. His senses and time perception are distorted. He becomes confused and he displays irresponsibility and poor judgment. And prolonged use may result in a loss of ambition and self-respect because of the induced couldn't care less attitude. But grass is not a dangerous drug like like heroin. You don't become an addict. may not be physically addictive, but it is habituating. You can come to depend upon it psychologically. That might be even worse. There's no cold turkey for that. What it really does is it is expand your mind, makes you see things more clearly, makes you more creative. Really, it does. All the painters and and writers, they all say so. They only think they create better things. Yeah, maybe they do. Anyway, Tom, it is illegal. Every time you blow a marijuana cigarette, you take a chance on blowing your future. Oh, come on, Pop. All my friends smoke pot. They're not criminals. Only because I haven't been caught yet. Two viewpoints, two opinions, but the relationship between Tom and his father is basically a good one. Tom's father believes in his son and he challenges him. Find out the actual facts about smoking grass, the pros and cons, fair and square. Don't hear only what you want to hear and then if Tom is still honestly convinced there's no harm in doing it. Nothing further will be said. Tom agrees. He's only smoked pot occasionally for a few weeks. He's really new to the scene. Well, here you can start with this. Oh, Pop, come on. Establishment propaganda. Read it anyway. Yeah, sure. Later. But I've got a better source of information. Tom seeks the help of his friend Mac a couple of years his senior, the boy who first introduced him to Pot. Mac thinks Tom's project is real square, but he agrees to get him all the dope. No pun intended. He knows just where to start Tom's education at a garden pot party held by one of Mac's friends. Smoking grass is a private affair and doesn't harm anybody, he's told. It's a groovy way of relaxing, opening your senses. Tom is most interested in what he sees. These people, most of them college students, are bright and well adjusted, very sure of themselves and their ability to handle anything. Obviously, they are all able to blow pot occasionally without ill effects. Well, almost all of them. Pot doesn't have the toxic effects of cigarettes, he's told. And it doesn't lead to the excesses of behavior that alcohol does. Inability to coordinate movement. The negative effects of smoking grass are exaggerated. All it is is a neat way to dispel the problems of the day for a little while. Uncontrollable hilarity without reason. Mac has managed to get himself stoned. He has a great idea. He'll take Tom to see someone who can give him the real lowdown. A true expert on the grass scene. Irresponsibility and poor judgment. Where's your head? Quit buggies. Nothing happened. Mac takes Tom to a psychedelic shop, a head shop. The place is something else. Out of sight, a pot smoker supermarket, a psychedelic attestant. It's run by a man named Harry. Harry is a real veteran of the grass scene, and he gives Tom the word. He's very persuasive. Everyone, but everyone's on grass. All the big ones, of course. The best writers, the best musicians, the best artists. It's definitely the scene. Tom is impressed with the imaginative, creative posters displayed on the wall. And he asks Harry about the artist. But it's Mac again who has the answer. He knows the artist, man. He painted those posters a couple of years ago. His pad's nearby. Why not go over and meet him? Why not? Indeed. Hey man, got any spare change? Sure. Here. Loss of selfrespect. Waco. The artist is pleased and flattered at the visit and lights up a joint in honor of his visitors. Sure, he blows pot. Has been for years. It's great, man. Enhances the senses, opens your mind, stimulates real creativity. Those conventional posters of the old days were just so much junk, Waco tells them. His real inspirations come to him now when he's stoned on grass. This new work, now that's out of sight. They only think they create better things. Waco insists grass is the greatest. That's where real expansion of your mind and talents can be found. Turn on tune out of the rat race in its square problems and tune in on real self-nowledge and creative power. Wake. Bunny is Waco's wife. There's trouble. Big trouble. The man is busting her younger brother. It's grass. All right. Bunny's brother, Jim, had been observed getting it from a known dealer. The officers caught up with him and placed him under arrest. It's still illegal. you take a chance of blowing your whole future. Bunny wants to know what the officers are going to do with her brother. The officer explains that Jim and the evidence found will be taken to the police station. She can get all further information there. Tom is impressed with the calm efficiency of the officers and the compassion they show for Bunny. They never lose their cool, even in the face of verbal abuse hurled at them by some of the onlookers. Bunny and Waco want to go to the police station, and Mac and Tom decide to tag along. at the police station while Waco's talking to the death sergeant. Bunny's worrying about her brother. He knew he was taking a chance on that pickup, she says, but he just had to have his grass. Not physically addictive, but habituating. You get to depend on it psychologically. Tom wants to think. So many thoughts are crowding his mind. Marijuana, cannabis sativa or Indian hemp, weed, grass, pot. It can become a stimulant or a depressive or an hallucinatory agent which affects the central nervous system and reacts differently and unpredictably on each individual user, occasionally with disastrous results. Tom has company. A police officer has noticed his interest in the display. Does he have any questions? Well, Tom is out after information, pro and con. What are the facts? He asks. Easily with friendly informality, the officer speaks to Tom. No lecturing, no sermonizing. Pot smoking, quite apart from being illegal, is a problem. The psychological dependency generated by pot is probably its greatest danger. Plus the fact that so many young smokers who can't cope with the everyday problems of growing up seek an airsat's maturity through it. Kids who get high repeatedly don't want to come down. There's a wholesome abandonment of goals and ambitions. They found a world where they seemingly have no problems. That's the crulest hoax of all. Smoking marijuana all too often leads to the use of more dangerous stuff. Take it from one who runs into the young victims of just that every day. Users tend to stick with other users and addicts who can easily get them on harder stuff. Every user is a potential dealer. Some 95% of all heroin addicts started with pot. Not every pot smoker goes on to heroin. Of course, a personality factor is undoubtedly largely responsible for that step. Very likely the same personality factor which turned the user on to pot. Yes, organized crime is involved in pushing marijuana. After all, it may well be a first step to real addiction where the big money is. And every pot smoker indirectly supports big-time narcotics dealers and criminals. These dealers sometimes even get cute. They've been known to mix other drugs in the grass, hoping for a quick and dependable push towards addiction. Not to mention all the other junk and impurities mixed in with the average cut of marijuana. Maybe smoking pot isn't physically harmful to the young occasional user, although this is far from certain. As recently as 1914, heroin was sold over the counter as harmless because its deadly properties were not fully known. But consider this. Both alcohol used in excess and marijuana are equally capable of producing erratic behavior and dependency. Maybe there is a similarity between the social drinker and the pot smoker. Yet, it's not quite the same. The daily drink may not be the best thing in the world, but a man who takes a drink after his day is done has worked. He has achieved. He has coped and he wants to relax. Not so the teenage user. He deliberately seeks to tune out, cop out. He uses his grass as a mental crutch because he fears to stand on his own. He may never learn to cope with the inevitable everyday problems of living. He may well become one of the left behind generation. Does smoking grass lead to crime? It can quite easily, as can any driving need when the one possessed by it is without the means to satisfy it. And legalizing the use of marijuana is not the answer. Of the over 130 member nations of the World Health Organization, not one is for such a step. One nation did try it with such dire results to its societal welfare within a few years that the permissive stand was diametrically reversed. And today the death penalty is imposed for mere possession. In the United States a less harsh, more realistic legal attitude than exists might be the answer. But in the end, smoking marijuana to blow your mind is like throwing sand in a delicate machine and hoping nothing goes wrong. Mac has had enough of the gloomy scene. He's itching to split. It's getting late. Tom still got to see where it's at. [music] Okay. Hi. It may be a first step. The left behind generation. It can lead to crime. You look like you've got bread, man. Give There's nothing wrong with smoking marijuana. It's no worse than taking a drink. A 20 years study of marijuana smokers in Greece showed a frightening personality change and permanent brain deterioration. There are still too many unanswered questions about the effects of smoking marijuana. Exhaustive tests are being made. Let's wait and see. Man, you look up tight. You need a little grass. No, behind the house. No thanks. He's just a kid. He's old enough to have a buck. He's old enough to blow a pot. It's easy money, man. Tom's impressed with what he has experienced. Nobody of the establishment lectured him, just gave him straight facts. Only the pot smokers seemed obsessed with the idea of turning others on. One afternoon, Tom again has a talk with his father. He's looked at both the pros and cons of blowing pot. He's not convinced that grass is all that harmful, but there is room for a lot of doubt. Why don't we wait and see? There's a lot of testing to be done before we'll know all the facts. We've already got our hang-ups with smoking and drinking. We know the consequences we face doing it. Why add another hang-up by blowing pot? especially since the full consequences of that are not known. Tom has decided what he'll do. It would be stupid to take a chance. After all, he's no psychological [ __ ] unable to cope. Who needs a grass crutch? Much better to keep off the grass.