From: bverreau@netcom.com (stargazer)
Subject: Re: "Cain's 100", "Frank Miller" -- the perils of channel-grazing ...
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 92 22:47:43 GMT
Organization: Nonusers for Legalization
Summary: plug for "Demon Rum"
Reply-To: bverreau@netcom.com (stargazer)
Bcc: bverreau

In article <1992Aug26.000453.15430@news.cs.indiana.edu> "Paul Hager" writes:

>     What a re-education tool this program could be after we have
> the Drug War Crimes Trials.  People like Bennet and Martinez could
> be strapped into chairs with their eyelids held open -- ala
> "Clockwork Orange" -- and made to watch this show, over and over
> and over again.  This, of course, would be before we put them to
> work in the hemp fields.

I couldn't read this without thinking about my own favorite piece
of anti-prohibition programming:  PBS's "The American Experience"
documentary "Demon Rum".  As a matter of fact, I got out my copy
and replayed it for the n-th time.  It's been mentioned here before,
in fact I've posted this review before, but for anyone who hasn't
yet seen this gem [the show, that is :] -

 [1989]
 I just watched an episode of the PBS series *The American Experience* that
 was, for me, the most compelling statement against the War on Drugs that
 I've heard to date.  "Demon Rum" is the story of the abject failure of
 Prohibition and its negative impact on society.  All the current propaganda
 was employed by the moralists of that era - that children must be shielded
 from evil, that users must be protected from themselves, that it was the
 government's duty to enforce proper moral standards.  The Noble Experiment
 resulted in widespread contempt for the law, corruption of the police and
 military, growth of organized crime, and even the recruitment of schoolkids
 to serve as runners for the bootleggers.  The repeal of the 18th Amendment
 at least partially succeeded in reversing these effects.

 The dawning of the Automotive Age in industrial Michigan was the setting.
 That added personal significance, since I grew up in Detroit and remember
 stories my parents used to tell about "blind pigs" and the Purple Gang.
 Southeastern Michigan was the alcohol-smuggling capital of the US, and many
 fortunes were made and lives were lost in the struggle for control.  Henry
 Ford took a particulary paternalistic attitude toward his employees in
 establishing a Department of Sociology within Ford Motor.  Its supervisors
 would make a surprise visit to an employee's house, checking for illegal
 hooch, and judging the worker's moral character.  One who passed inspection
 got a bonus, one who didn't got a new job.  By the end of Prohibition, the
 situation had changed a bit.  Murder and kidnapping were so prevalent in the
 Motor City that Ford feared for the lives of his family, and he cut a secret
 deal with the mob.  The Department of Sociology was renamed Social Services,
 and it was staffed with formerly convicted gang members.  His "goon squad"
 later proved useful for union-busting service.  Fascinating history.

 Even the most ardent Drug War sympathizer would be struck by the uncanny
 parallels.  The amazing thing is that the narrator didn't refer to the new
 prohibition once - he didn't have to.  A number was flashed on the screen
 for anyone interested in obtaining a video copy for educational purposes:

                   PBS Video (800) 424-7963.


This number is still active if anyone wants to order a copy.  You must
state an 'educational purpose' for receiving it - to show at your drug
legalization group's next meeting, for example.  There's a substantial
charge - on the order of $70, as I recall - but the quality of the video
transfer is excellent, and it's entertaining enough to hold the attention
of a large audience.  It would make a terrific lead-in to a public forum
on the prohibition issue.

Bernie Verreau                                      bverreau@netcom.COM
Netcom - Online Communication Services              Redwood City, CA