Doors at 6:30 | Show at 7:00
All ages welcome.
Free parking is available in the lot across the street until full.
In the mid-1930s, powerful industrialist used their enormous political clout, and the, then new, psychological warfare techniques developed by Edward Bernays during WWI, to transform an essential agricultural staple, “hemp” (cannabis sativa), into the dangerous, illegal drug called “Marijuana.” Long used for cordage fiber, food, medicine, and lubricating oil, this hearty, fast-growing annual plant threatened to compete with WR Hearst’s forest razing paper empire, Nelson Rockefeller’s burgeoning synthetic pharmaceutical industry, and Dupont’s new synthetic fibers, like Nylon. Together, they undertook an enormous political/public relations campaign to demonize hemp, and eradicate it from the face of the Earth. This campaign became known as “The War on Drugs.”
This new feature documentary: Hemp Disconnected, A Psychological War for American Dependence, examines the power of propaganda to shape society and change the course of history, and what it takes to counter it. Disguised as a “public health” intervention, The War On Drugs used ubiquitous propaganda, backed up with undercover sting operations, mandatory minimum sentences, and for-profit prisons to ruin the lives of millions of American citizens and turn the United States into the most incarcerated nation on Earth, but the primary focus of Hemp Disconnected, is the ordinary Americans who rediscovered the forgotten history of hemp, and reeducated the world, in an environment poisoned by propaganda, where they were labeled as criminals.
This story takes us to Humboldt County, California, and the small town of Garberville, where, Marie Mills opened the very first licensed hemp business in America since prohibition, The Hemp Connection, in 1990, the same year she non-violently confronted Army soldiers in the forest near her home. Then Pres. GHW Bush sent 200 National Guard, and 60 Regular Army troops to Humboldt County to eradicate marijuana that year, in a campaign dubbed “Operation Greensweep.” Operation Greensweep was the first time in history that US Army troops were deployed against American citizens, on US soil. Marie Mills, and her neighbors, formed a citizens group, eventually called “The Civil Liberties Monitoring Project” to monitor law enforcement activity and document civil liberties violations. They met those soldiers in the field, armed only with cameras, to bear witness.
Hemp Disconnected, A Psychological War for American Dependence tells the story of how a handful of brave Americans turned the tide in this war, by telling the truth that revealed the true motivation for the War on Drugs, and reintroducing Americans to real hemp products. The movie features many people instrumental in the legalization struggle, including Jack Herer, Robert Randall, Ed Rosenthal and Debby Goldsberry, and medical cannabis specialists Dr William Courtney and Dr Tod Mikuria. Hemp Disconnected, A Psychological War for American Dependence also features a host of cameo appearances by a star-studded roster of A-list celebrities, including: Humphrey Bogart, Bugs Bunny, Kermit the Frog, Sonny Bono, Bette Davis, Jay Leno, and David Letterman.
The film will have its Portland Premier, for one night only, at the Alberta Abbey, at 7pm on Sunday Dec 8. The film’s writer and narrator, John Hardin will be on-hand for Q+A afterward. For more information contact The Alberta Abbey.
All ticket sales are final.