Super High Me

Introduction

A flippant remark about Morgan Spurlock's documentary Super Size Me during one of his stand-up gigs saw Doug Benson, a regular pot smoker, embark on an experiment into the effects of marijuana.

The documentary follows Benson, a California resident where medical marijuana is legal under State Law, as he 'dries out' for 30 days, taking tests on his psychic abilities, physical wellbeing and an SAT before embarking on a month-long bender where he smokes, vaporises and eats hash from getting up to going to bed and taking the same tests.

Set around his stand-up gigs with a countdown clock showing his progress as he travels around the US and visits many dispensaries, showing the many different ways of consuming the many different strains of the drug and attitudes towards its use.

Video

This is mostly shot on handheld DV recorders and isn't the clearest picture you will ever come across but, due to the subject matter and type of film, it doesn't need to be. Some of the footage is from such places as inside a car and Benson's kitchen, with plenty of material from inside comedy clubs for good measure.

Graphics, animation and captions are used well throughout.

Audio

You have the option of Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 stereo and I preferred the latter as it was clearer and the 5.1 made more use of the surrounds than is necessary.

Extra Features

Although it appears there are quite a few on the menu, all you get are some deleted scenes, a 'thank you' to people hosting screenings and the Teaser and Theatrical trailers.

Conclusion

I didn't find Doug Benson - an award-winning comedian - particularly funny and his stand-up routines left me cold but this didn't really matter as what he set out to do works whether you like his material or not.

The key to Super Size Me was Morgan Spurlock challenging McDonald's assertion that its food represented a balanced diet and the incredible effect it had on his body during the 30 days he ate that food. The problem here is that no one says that smoking pot day in, day out is good for you and no physician or pot smoker would advocate ingesting so much. As such, it's not clear what Benson was trying to prove - other than chain smoking hash for a month doesn't kill you. He certainly looked worse near the end of his 30 day marijuana marathon than he did when he wasn't using, but there wasn't enough physical and psychological testing to really make a point.

As an already heavy user, Benson would have a tolerance to the drug/medicine and I don't think he gave himself enough time without smoking to properly detox before getting 'super high'. What this illustrates very well is that smoking a joint doesn't turn you into a giggling wreck and, with this currently in the news, Benson was by no means a paranoid, psychological wreck.

This is worth a watch, but there are far better stoner movies out there where the users are much more entertaining but it will be interesting to see if this sparks more testing on people who smoke pot regularly so there can be a thorough investigation into the drug's long-term effects and whether it should be available for medicinal use.