At the beginning of the 1970s, America's Commander and Chief was one Richard Nixon, infamously known for the Watergate scandal and his ensuing impeachment; however, in the shadow of that scandal lies a legacy that is often forgotten as one of his contributions and has haunted the nation for much longer: the war one drugs. Nixon won his presidency during the Vietnam war and at the height of the nationwide turmoil that came with it, such as mass student protests, draft dodging and political gridlock. Nixon clenched his win by running on a no nonsense/law and order based ticket, promising to restore “order” to the nation. This was a direct appeal to white, suburban middle Americans who saw an urbanizing nation hot with youth activism around progressive movements as a threat to their way of life. At the center of his promise to restore order, Nixon railed against drugs and, specifically, weed, as the main culprit of all things wrong with America. Even though drug use was falling, it was an easy thing to get people to rally behind as well as an even easier way to vilify political and societal opponents. Though, in reality, Nixon’s war against drugs was intended as little more than a long term publicity move, the actual nuts and bolts of his anti-drug legislation were carried out by police officers and the judicial system in ways that deeply harmed many. The entire system of law enforcement was pushed to extremes that led to ineffective and inefficient use of public funds that in the end had no diminishing effects on drug users and stripped millions of Americans of their civil liberties along the way. This overall failure, along with the total inefficiencies of the agencies within the justice system, are mirrored by comically bad law enforcement in the 1978 cult classic Cheech and Chong: Up In Smoke.
The movie centers around an odd couple-like friendship between a burnout rich kid (Chong) and Mexican stoner (Cheech) who engage in some baked hijinx as they are unwittingly chased by incompetent law enforcement set on busting them for drugs. They first meet when Cheech picks up a hitchhiking Chon, and go on to bond over a big ol 'dubbie which instantly gets them arrested. Fortunately, they happen to escape from this stitch due to some incompetence by the ruling judge. Indeed, this juridicial incompetenceis a theme throughout the movie and it is going to be the main theme I explore. As the movie continues they do some partying, smoke some more weed, and eventually end up in Mexico, where they stumble upon a big green van they take back over the border. What they don't know is the van is literally made of weed and they are being tracked by some DEA agents. Their ability to escape the DEA has little do with their ingenuity and more to do, again, with law enforcement’s incompetence. The movie ends with all their problems getting blown into the wind and a pretty kick ass rock show which was all their only goal the whole time. Just as the film represents law enforcement as comically ineffective, it also purposefully leans into stereotypes of weed smokers—mainly Mexicans and hippies—In ways that are not just funny, but also launch a critique of the war on drugs.
Cheech and Chong was made by two self proscribed pacifist comedians, Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin, who met in Canada after leaving the US in order to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War. They developed their two main characters at standup shows and comedy clubs. The characters grew by making fun of themselves but also making fun of how ridiculous and off base most of America was in judging the anti-war movement and those who agreed with it. While Cheech and Chong did not themselves smoke weed, they purposefully made it part of the act because of how the federal government and other mainstream powers in the US had connected the anti-war movement with marijuana as a way to both discredit them and find legal pathways to suppress them . Interestingly, while this approach did work among older Americans and made them more fearful of weed, it had the opposite effect among young adults, who actually started smoking more.
In many ways, Up in Smoke is meant to be a comedic representation of how middle America viewed people like Cheech and Chong. According to an interview done by Rolling Stone, they had no idea and no intention of making a timeless cult class, nor was there any intention to become part of the push for legalization, of which Cheech and Chong later became poster children. They also were not intentionally launching a critique of the war on drugs, though their representation of hapless law enforcement did just that.. Indeed, it's almost eerie how similar their satire around law enforcement in the movie is, especially when considering it to be unintentional as well as prophetic in some ways.
One scene that stands out in this way is when the two main characters are trying to get into the US from Mexico in a van made entirely out of weed (great idea). A group of drug agents have been tipped that they are coming, through a wacky series of events the agents end up cuffing, searching and manhandling a group of innocent nuns. This seems like clear satire in regards to a 1968 supreme court ruling that waived one's 4th amendment rights by giving law enforcement the ability to stop, search, and seize property without a warrant given loosely defined “probable cause.” This ruling has been used for hundreds of thousands of human right violating stops that are actually found to be warranted a mere 5% of the time, according to Larry Cushnie a cannabis and social justice professor at South Seattle College. This practice has been taking away basic human rights of Americans for decades as well as a source of unnecessary policing and therefore tax payer money.
Another part of how the war on drugs failed the American people was the court system through a long history of harsh convictions for simple possession crimes and the practice of unfair tactics to get easy convictions. Indeed, this injustice is represented in the film as well. Early in the movie, the star duo gets into some trouble and end up before a judge, things are going extremely poorly for them until it is discovered the judge is drinking booze mid trial. Obviously at this point they get released and it works out for them but this incompetence, however comedic, did exist in much realer forms and continues to exist today. In a different lecture from Professor Cushine, he stated that 7% of all Americans are in the criminal justice system with a large portion being for minor possession or not being guilty at all. These false convictions come from the system prioritizing convictions over actual justice and being built on trying to rush the accused through the legal process as fast as possible.
Throughout the entire movie there are countless examples of the cops messing up in hilarious ways that ultimately speak to much larger social issues, intentionally or not For example, at one point we see a police car running straight through a fruit stand run by a Mexican family, symbolizing the often specific targeting of Latine people, as well as the destruction of many minority communities. Indeed, the war on drugs had devastating effects not just for those arrested, but for their communities, too. Children lost parents and caregivers, moms lost sons and communities lost leaders. The waste in taxpayer money (literally billions of dollars), which could have provided for schools and social services, was instead used to incarcerate high rates of minorities for non-violent or harmful offenses. Minorities were arrested at five times the rate of white people even though all racial demographics smoke weed at pretty much the same rate, according to a study done by the Washington Post. In fact, as Cheech and Chong evade the cops, bystander after bystander is negatively affected by the chase.
The entire movie the police in the film did nothing they were supposed to, messed up at every opportunity and ended up hurting people who did not actually do anything wrong. This is a perfect metaphor for the war on drugs as it didn't actually accomplish lessening the use of drugs, it did criminalize minorities at an insanely high rate without people causing any harm to ill will to others. It wasted taxpayer money while stripping those same tax payers of their fundamental rights all while taking away from actually important policing. Though these similarities were reportedly accidental they are impossible to ignore, And though the intention was to make fun of the melodrama way middle America viewed drug use, the critique on drug policing during the war on drugs stands out even more.