Super High Me (2007) - 70%
This 2007 documentary film is a pot-based take on the 2004 documentary Supersize Me, and follows a perpetually stoned Doug Benson for thirty days. However, he must first undergo 30 weedless days, in order to gain some comparison on various biological and psychometric tests.
It’s a fun ride through 60 days of a stand-up comedian, and various other comedians along the way, and really further highlights the ludicrous nature of the laws we and America have around this relatively harmless drug.
Remember how at the end of Supersize Me, Spurlock almost has to give up because he’s basically about to die and hates the fucking sight of a cheeseburger? Well at 4.20pm on day 30, Benson is still lighting up, this time by personal choice. Even he thought he’d be sick of it by the end, but he just seems to have had an amazing month. He puts on a little weight, but otherwise his SAT score stays about the same (in fact goes up 50 points), his scores on tests of happiness and well-being soar, even his ‘psychic’ ability score goes up (yes I know it’s a completely fatuous waste of time but I thought I’d throw that in there).
Now, I don’t smoke weed because…well I don’t know, but I see basically no problem with it. You know all the arguments. Yes there is possible evidence of a higher risk of certain mental disorders after years of chronic use (though more correlatory than causal evidence), and yes if you smoke it you are liable to have respiratory problems, as with any kind of smoking - but that’s not the only way to take it. You can bake it, you can use a vaporiser, you can put it into pills and even spray it on (apparently). You run fewer risks than in smoking cigarettes, and we all know the preposterous hypocrisy there. Taxing it would provide the US government with billions of dollars, and there’s no shortage of demand for it. People need, and use, it for painkilling reasons, to help them sleep, to ease anxiety; to basically give those going through chronic pain, chemotherapy, MS and other terrible problems some quality of life and some control back.
There is a certain annoying type of ‘Ooh aren’t I cool and interesting and funny just because I smoke weed and ooh I said ‘weed’ and ooh I can roll a doobie spliff mong ball’ subculture about it, but that’s all part and parcel. You take away the illegality, you get rid of a lot of this douchey type of behaviour and you see who really just smokes it to chill out or to make things a bit more entertaining. Again, I don’t smoke it but that doesn’t mean I haven’t enjoyed smoking it in the past, and or that I would dissuade someone from doing so.
Anyway, back to the film. Almost everyone you see who is a smoker is a well-humoured, enlightened person who sees the difference between a law and a moral, who sees the illogicality of illegalising something which they have extensively tested themselves for a long time and against which can come up with no reasonable objection. During the 30 days sober Benson doesn’t become agitated, as someone might after 30 days without a cigarette for example, he doesn’t develop compensatory habits or start pining for it.
Overall a very funny film, about a very funny law concerning a very funny drug.
70%
