Cannabis Rising: Cannabis country sketches for screenwriters

Compelling, true life cannabis conflict is happening in the shadows all around, but it’s almost never portrayed on film. Here are some sketches of characters struggling in the conflict zone, on the hard road between now and the restoration of a patient's right to choose and responsibly use cannabis.

Clean not sober

A creative, thoughtful, introverted atheist from a conservative Philadelphia family is slowly dying from alcohol and drug abuse. Now in her late 30s, Darci has been in and out of Western-style rehab eight times in a dozen years. She hates everything about it; the group meetings, the halfway houses, the religious overtones, and the pill prescriptions for depression that dampen her creative skills. She has tried cannabis in the past to no ill effect, but her well-respected psychologist insists that weed is what got Darci into this mess, and that’s good enough for her family. So instead of questioning the methodology, the science, or the practitioner (who believes cannabis is just pot), they blame the patient for failing to get with the program.[1] At a family gathering her favorite nephew quietly reveals he has taken himself off his OCD and depression meds with cannabis tincture. He offers to help.

Cannabis for Kids

Taylor is sixteen and has been on medication for ADHD since he was nine. He’s a smart kid but a terrible student. He’s dazed, uninspired, and at times quietly suicidal. He has never thought much about the medicine being prescribed to him by his doctor and given to him by his caring, single mom. In Oklahoma that’s what is prescribed for what he has. Boulder, Colorado, he discovers, is a long way from Tuttle, Oklahoma. During a visit with his 'black sheep' father (a bud tender with a Colorado cannabis dispensary) he learns there is an alternative to prescribed medicines. Back home, his mom forbids him from even discussing the possibility of substituting cannabis for his 'modern' meds. Taylor decides to explore on his own with goodies his father drives to the border. His first attempt at treating himself goes badly. He ends up in the hospital with an edibles overdose. He is arrested and the charges will ruin his life, unless he reveals the source.

Fighter for freedom not free to choose cannabis

A soldier returns from Afghanistan and tries to settle back into normal life in Southern New Hampshire. Casey is physically fine but is tormented by the action she saw, and by the actions she took to survive. Her brother Dave is a successful lawyer and closet weed aficionado whose wife and family believes he tokes far less than he does. Lately Dave has been exploring green dragon tincture[2] as a stealthy means of enjoying a good buzz without drinking so much at cocktail parties. He encourages his sister to try it as a sleep aid and to calm her daily anxiety. Casey resists at first because she has a good civilian job with a local defense contractor that has a zero tolerance for use of illegal substances. They’ve never drug tested, so after another bad week of nightmares, Casey gives tincture a try. It works for her, and when an old Yankee farmer at a coffee shop in Peterborough spies Casey furtively dosing her oatmeal with cannabis drops, she quietly introduces herself. Suddenly Casey is learning how to make extracts and edibles from an expert grower who has been quietly growing her own for years. Casey brings a couple of small, potent cookies to work, planning to bite off tiny pieces throughout the day. When she leaves her desk, a bothersome, unsuspecting co-worker swipes one of the treats and has a bad overdose. Casey is immediately fired. The local police are taking it seriously as well, and if convicted, Casey could lose not only her military benefits, but her freedom.