Wayne Darwen | |
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![]() Wayne Darwen in June 2015 | |
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Occupation(s) | Journalist, television producer, filmmaker |
Wayne Darwen is an Australian journalist, television producer and filmmaker best known for his work in the tabloid television genre [1] and as director and star of the film, High There (2015). [2]
Began career as a 17-year-old reporter for a newspaper in Sydney, Australia. He worked internationally as a reporter for titles such as Sydney Daily Mirror , Star magazine and the New York Post , before moving to American television as a producer of tabloid newsmagazine shows like A Current Affair , Hard Copy , Geraldo Rivera’s Now It Can be Told, [3] Strange Universe and Inside Edition . [4]
He received attention for his 1993 series of televised interviews with Son of Sam killer David Berkowitz, [5] in which Berkowitz claimed the murders were the work of a Satanic cult. [6] He appeared as reporter in the documentary film, Dark Mirror of Magick: The Vassago Millennium Prophecy (2012). [7]
His early television exploits were featured in the 1999 book Tabloid Baby , [8] written by his colleague Burt Kearns.
In May 2015, Darwen made international news when he responded to Downey's attack on journalists [9] and independent films. [10]
Darwen wrote, directed (with Henry Goren), produced and took on the guise of Dave High [11] in the documentary film High There (2015), a nonfiction comedy about the efforts of Darwen and Henry Goren to film the pilot for a marijuana travelogue series on the island of Hawaii. They wind up in various misadventures, while uncovering a Drug Enforcement Administration campaign to control the marijuana trade and to persecute marijuana activist Roger Christie. [12] It is the first leg of a filmic journey that picks up where Darwen's colleague and inspiration Hunter S. Thompson left off. [13]
High There premiered 25 August 2014 at the Action on Film International Film Festival in Monrovia, California. Darwen was on location in Adelaide at the time, so he appeared at the premiere as a life-size cardboard cut-out. [14] The film won the Viewers' Choice Award at the first annual Cannabis Film Festival in Humboldt County, California on May 3, 2015. [15] On the heels of several rave reviews, [2] it was released on VOD and Limited Edition DVD[ citation needed ] by BrinkVision [16] on June 23, 2015. [17] [18] [19]
420, 4:20 or 4/20 is cannabis culture slang for marijuana and hashish consumption, especially smoking around the time 4:20 pm (16:20). It also refers to cannabis-oriented celebrations that take place annually on April 20.
The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These policies in most countries are regulated by three United Nations treaties: the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Since its descheduling in 2020, cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug under the Single Convention treaty, meaning that signatories can allow medical use but that it is considered to be an addictive drug with a serious risk of abuse.
Robert John Downey Jr. is an American actor. His films as a leading actor have grossed over $14 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. Downey's career has been characterized by some early success, a period of drug-related problems and run-ins with the law, and a surge in popular and commercial success in the 2000s. In 2008, Downey was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. From 2013 to 2015, he was listed by Forbes as Hollywood's highest-paid actor.
Vincent Philip D'Onofrio is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
The Emerald Triangle is a region in Northern California, named as such due to it being the largest cannabis-producing region in the United States. The region includes three counties in an upside-down triangular configuration:
High Times is an American monthly magazine that advocates the legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by Tom Forcade. The magazine had its own book publishing division, High Times Books, and its own record label, High Times Records.
Stoner film is a subgenre of comedy film based on marijuana themes, where recreational use often drives the plot, sometimes representing cannabis culture more broadly or intended for that audience.
Burt Kearns is an American author, journalist, and television and film producer, writer and director, whom Vanity Fair referred to as "a show business and pop culture savant."
Steven Hager is an American writer, journalist, filmmaker, and counterculture and cannabis rights activist. He is known for his long association with High Times magazine.
Super High Me is a 2007 documentary film about the effects of smoking cannabis for 30 days. Directed by Michael Blieden, the documentary stars comedian Doug Benson. The documentary's name and its poster are plays on the 2004 documentary Super Size Me.
Cannabis culture describes a social atmosphere or series of associated social behaviors that depends heavily upon cannabis consumption, particularly as an entheogen, recreational drug and medicine.
In the United States, the use of cannabis for medical purposes is legal in 38 states, four out of five permanently inhabited U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia, as of March 2023. Ten other states have more restrictive laws limiting THC content, for the purpose of allowing access to products that are rich in cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of cannabis. There is significant variation in medical cannabis laws from state to state, including how it is produced and distributed, how it can be consumed, and what medical conditions it can be used for.
In the United States, cannabis is legal in 38 of 50 states for medical use and 24 states for recreational use. At the federal level, cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, determined to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, prohibiting its use for any purpose. Despite this prohibition, federal law is generally not enforced against the possession, cultivation, or intrastate distribution of cannabis in states where such activity has been legalized.
The legal history of cannabis in the United States began with state-level prohibition in the early 20th century, with the first major federal limitations occurring in 1937. Starting with Oregon in 1973, individual states began to liberalize cannabis laws through decriminalization. In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis, sparking a trend that spread to a majority of states by 2016. In 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize cannabis for recreational use.
Charlotte's Web is a brand of high-cannabidiol (CBD), low-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products derived from industrial hemp and marketed as dietary supplements and cosmetics under federal law of the United States. It is produced by Charlotte's Web, Inc. in Colorado. Hemp-derived products do not induce the psychoactive "high" typically associated with recreational marijuana strains that are high in THC. Charlotte's Web hemp-derived products contain less than 0.3% THC.
High There is a 2014 dark, nonfiction comedy film about a real-life, legendary but down-and-out tabloid television journalist who heads to Hawaii to film a marijuana travel series, only to become lost in a fog of drugs, sex and paranoia as he uncovers a secret government war to control the marijuana trade. The film touches on the controversial federal prosecution of marijuana advocate Roger Christie and his THC Ministry.
Henry Goren is an American photojournalist, videographer, cinematographer, and documentary film director, known in the industry for his hidden camera and investigative expertise, as well as his activism on behalf of unions, the environment, animal rights and other causes.
Paul Stanford is the founder of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF), THCF Medical Clinics, and the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp (CRRH).
The Culture High is a 2014 feature-length documentary film directed by Brett Harvey. It is about the marijuana prohibition and the war on drugs in United States. It is the sequel of the 2007 The Union: The Business Behind Getting High.
Terms related to cannabis include: