Movies like High: The True Tale of American Marijuana

An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.

In the past 40 years, the War on Drugs has accounted for 45 million arrests, made America the world's largest jailer, and destroyed impoverished communities at home and abroad. Yet drugs are cheaper, purer, and more available today than ever. Where did we go wrong?

Documentary examining the cases of five chronically ill people who have been prescribed medical marijuana as part of their treatment.

A DEA agent and a local sheriff have to wrestle with their consciences as they start raids on local farmers, who have started growing marijuana simply to keep their farms operational. Story focuses on a young man, who accidentally discovers that his straight-laced parents are involved in the marijuana cultivation.

In 2006, Charlie Lynch was invited by the civic leaders of Morro Bay, CA to open a medical marijuana dispensary within the city limits. Offered a business license and asked to join the Chamber of Commerce, Lynch opened and maintained his business according to the most rigorous standards available. However, marijuana remains a Class 1 narcotic according to the DEA, and Lynch's business soon became the target of a large Federal investigation. This film explores the horrific descent into hell faced by Mr. Lynch - previously a law abiding citizen without so much as a speeding ticket, as he is cast as a Pablo Escobar and thrown into Federal detention.

Waiting to Inhale examines the heated debate over marijuana and its use as medicine in the United States. Twelve states have passed legislation to protect patients who use medical marijuana. Yet opponents claim the medical argument is just a smokescreen for a different agenda-- to legalize marijuana for recreation and profit. What claims are being made, and what are the stakes? Waiting to Inhale takes viewers inside the lives of patients who have been forever changed by illness-and parents who lost their children to addiction. Is marijuana really a gateway drug? What evidence is there to support the claim that marijuana can alleviate some of the devastating symptoms of AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis? Waiting to Inhale sheds new light on this controversy and presents shocking new evidence that marijuana could hold a big stake in the future of medicine.

This sympathetic documentary looks at the issues confronting one group of Northern California pot growers and articulates the frustrations they face in a unique business that many regard as the most practical way to feed their families. For decades, outlaw marijuana cultivation has been a huge "hidden" industry fueling much of the region's economy, but pot farmers have remained subject to harassment and arrest by federal law-enforcement agencies.