POT SMOKERS GET A NEW LOOK

TV, Movies Portraying Dope in a Different Light

LOS ANGELES -- Marijuana is not just for dopes anymore, at least not
in Hollywood. Thirty years after comedians Cheech Marin and Tommy
Chong popularized the myth of stoners as amiable goofballs in Up In
Smoke, film and television producers are instead portraying pot
smokers as regular folks from all walks of life.

On TV, there is Weeds, which became a hit on cable network Showtime
following its 2005 debut. It revolves around a widowed mom who deals
dope to make ends meet.

Among movies, the Harold & Kumar movies centre on a stoner investment
banker and medical school candidate. In the art-house film The
Wackness, Sir Ben Kingsley plays a pot-smoking psychiatrist, and in
the upcoming comedy Pineapple Express, Seth Rogen portrays a sky-high
legal process server.

Some culture watchers say these new portrayals promote illegal drug
use among children, while the film and TV producers argue they simply
reflect a change in society.

Many say these relatively recent depictions would have been harder to
present in the past with U.S. administrations backing the "war on
drugs" that dates to the early 1970s, including the Reagan White
House's "Just Say No" campaign of the 1980s.

"Political climates and cultural climates kind of go together. That
was a more conservative era in lots of ways," said Bruce Mirken,
spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project which advocates
decriminalization of the drug.

A 2005 study by California-based Rand Corp. found that the
government's anti-drug campaign had not led to "substantial decreases
in the severity of America's drug-related problems."

World Health Organization researchers last month released a study
saying Americans lead the world in marijuana use with more than 42 per
cent of U.S. citizens acknowledging having tried cannabis. That
amounts to just over 125 million Americans, based on a population of
roughly 300 million.

Roberto Benabib, an executive producer of Weeds, said he was high on
the program's prospects when it premiered in 2005.

"We felt that it was kind of one of the last untouched subjects --
that, kind of, sex had been done on HBO on various shows and that
drugs had kind of been left alone because it was the last taboo,"
Benabib said.

With Pineapple Express, which opens on Wednesday, the so-called
"stoner film" has evolved into an action-packed comedy. The idea about
a pair of potheads on the run from police came from the mind of
producer Judd Apatow, who also was behind the hit comedy Knocked Up.

"He had this notion of a weed-action movie," said Rogen, who also
co-wrote the script. "I thought 'That could be rad.' "

But it is not a cool concept to the conservative Parents Television
Council, which has noticed the growth in marijuana-themed TV shows and
movies and worries the portrayals will boost dope smoking by children.

"If kids can be influenced to smoke cigarettes, which are illegal to
sell to minors, why should we believe that a child would not be as
inclined to smoke marijuana, which is not legal?" said Melissa Henson,
a spokeswoman for the group.

Hollywood players say their portrayal of marijuana use is not meant to
encourage anyone to smoke pot. They just want to make it part of
storylines to reflect today's society.

Even Tommy Chong, 70, and Cheech Marin, 62, who were a top comedy team
of the 1970s, said marijuana movies these days differ from their brand
of pot humour.