SPECTACLE FILMS, INC.
presents
THE WAR ON
THE WAR ON DRUGS
a film by Cevin Soling
(USA, Color DigiBeta, 76 minutes, 2005)
Starring: JOE GREENE – CARRIE KERANEN – KEVIN MULHERN
SUSIE SCHWARTZ – TARA PLATT - YURI LOWENTHAL - BRETT COLBY
KENNY MARSHALL and DARREN FOUSE
“Hilarious” The New York Times
“Fitfully Entertaining” The Onion
Best Experimental Feature
New York Independent Film & Video Festival
Clear Creek Award Winslow International Film Festival
Best Documentary High Times Stony Award
www.spectaclefilms.com
Sales Contact:
Stuart A. Goldman
SGC Entertainment
341 Lafayette Street Suite 24
New York, NY 10012
cast
JOSEPH GREENE - Professor Science
CARRIE KERANEN - Carrie
KEVIN MULHERN - Interviewer
SUSIE SCHWARTZ - Arabic Women's Tennis Player
TARA PLATT - Agnes, Tara
YURI LOWENTHAL - Judge Knott
BRETT COLBY - Brahma, Paco
KENNY MARSHALL - Kali
DARREN FOUSE - Dr. Burke, Businessman
CEVIN SOLING – Nimbus the Elder
credits
Produced, Written & Directed by ................... Cevin Soling
Co-Producer.................................................... Daniel J. Kornfeld
Post Director ................................................... Stormy Meeks
Post Production & Editing .............................. Neil Stuber
Music .............................................................. Martin Trum
Additional Editing .......................................... Sean Casey, Stormy Meeks, David Guinan
synopsis
THE WAR ON THE WAR ON DRUGS is the first feature film to take targeted aim at the U.S.
government's ineffectual and costly anti-drug campaign. Soling’s stinging indictment unfolds in a series
of 60 humorous vignettes that use a variety of cinematic styles to parody the government’s drug war
propaganda and those insistent upon enforcing it.
The film exposes the twisted logic and obvious lies at the core of the Bush administration's obscenely
expensive anti-drug efforts. Ironically, Soling’s exhaustive research reveals the potential benefits of illicit
drug use. The film embraces popular American media and culture in parodying the drug war propaganda.
The humorous segments include: a 1970’s educational reel- providing information on Meth lab fire safety
and how to find a dealer you can trust; a 1950’s black and white Sci-Fi flick; anti-drug ads; a how-to
cooking show featuring hash brownies; a kid-TV show starring puppets that dispense drug information;
and a news "exposé" revealing eerie comparisons between DARE and Hitler Youth. What ultimately
emerges is the startling realization that the drug war is far more dangerous than the drugs it purports to
eliminate.
about the filmmaker
Writer/director/producer/artist Cevin Soling, President of Spectacle Films and Xemu Records, is involved in many
facets of the entertainment industry.
Soling wrote, directed, and produced the feature film, THE WAR ON THE WAR ON DRUGS, winner of the best
experimental feature film award at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival, as well as the “Clear
Creek” Honorable Mention Award at the Winslow International Film Festival. The theatrical release begins in
June 2005 at the Quad Cinema in New York. Soling also executive produced the independent feature RELAX, IT'S
JUST SEX, starring Jennifer Tilly, Lori Petty and Cynda Williams, which premiered at the Sundance Film
Festival.
As a writer, Soling penned the animated short film, BORIS THE DOG, which won the “Premio Nuovo” award at
the Williamsburg Brooklyn Film Festival and was part of Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Animation
Festival. The film aired as part of MTV's CARTOON SUSHI as well as on the BBC in England.
Soling created and writes the animated series THE BILL JOHNSON SHOW, also featured in Spike and Mike's
Sick and Twisted Animation Festival and in video compilation (“Sick and Twisted – Volume 7” released by
Ventura Distribution). He has written a series of ten illustrated story books entitled the Rumpleville Chronicles
which are being released over the next two years. These books include The Jolly Elf, which has currently been
released, The Disciples of Trotsky, which will be released in early 2007, and The Bomb That Followed Me
Home, which will be released in mid 2007.
In the documentary arena, Soling is producer and executive producer of the hour-long documentary about
trepanation, A HOLE IN THE HEAD, which won the Best Documentary Award at both the Atlantic City Film
Festival and the Brooklyn International Film Festival. A HOLE IN THE HEAD was broadcast on Discovery and
The Learning Channel and is available on video through Beatnik Home Video. Soling also executive produced
URINE: GOOD HEALTH, also available on Beatnik.
In addition to his film work, Soling has been active in the music industry via his record company, Xemu Records.
He was the songwriter, guitarist, and lead singer for THE NEANDERTHAL SPONGECAKE, whose CD, THE
SIDE EFFECTS OF NAPALM, received considerable airplay across the U.S. He currently writes and performs
with THE LOVE KILLS THEORY. A CD is planned for release in late 2005. The band was selected out of
thousands to perform at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in June 2005.
Other Xemu artists include Poets & Slaves, Scary Chicken, The Sandra Wright Band, Baby Alive, and Mikki
James. Soling conceived of and initiated the establishment of The Hard Rock Café as a live performance venue by
touring Xemu artists Scary Chicken through the chain. Additionally, Soling has served as producer for Jackie
Chan, Ani DiFranco, Don Ho, The Smile Zone, and The Neanderthal Spongecake. He recently completed work
as creator and executive producer of the album WHEN PIGS FLY, a compilation of major artists performing covers
of favorites one would never imagine them performing. Among the artists featured are Devo, The Fixx, The Box
Tops, Roy Clark, Jackie Chan, Lesley Gore, The Oak Ridge Boys, Herman’s Hermits, and Ani DiFranco.
Currently Soling is directing four film projects: a documentary on the oppression of children in America, a
documentary on the Ik tribe in Northern Uganda, a documentary on a cargo cult tribe in the South Pacific, and a
documentary about the staging of a Swan Lake ballet performance featuring actual llamas in the roles of the swans
and a jug band performing the Tchaikovsky score. A preview of this latter project aired on PBS in Indiana, where
the documentary will be shot.
Soling is currently a candidate for a Masters degree in philosophy from the extension school at Harvard University,
and is awaiting an appointment for a diplomatic post with the U.S. Foreign Service.
music
“Drugs Are Cool”
Written by Cevin Soling
Performed by The Neanderthal Spongecake
Angry God Music, BMI
“This Thing”
Written by Cevin Soling
Performed by The Neanderthal Spongecake
Angry God Music, BMI
“Linear High”
Written by Rick Bain and The Genius Position
Performed by Rick Bain and The Genius Position
“Three Chord #1”
Written by Rick Bain and The Genius Position
Performed by Rick Bain and The Genius Position
“E.S.P.”
Written by Orion Simprini
Performed by Kitty In The Tree
Menage á Quatre Music
“Pills & Cocktails”
Written by The Papa
Performed by The Papa
Drug War Fast Facts

In 2000, there were 1,579,566 drug arrests in the US. Of those, 46.5 percent -- 734,497 arrests -- were
for marijuana.

Students who have been through the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program are more
likely to use illegal drugs than students who have not had any anti-drug education.

19.5% of all deaths in the United States from 1990-1994 were related to smoking cigarettes.
Percentage of deaths from smoking marijuana: 0

In 1999, 1,350 wiretaps were authorized by State and Federal courts. Of these, 978 – a total of 72.4%
-- were for drug investigations, 139 (10%) were for racketeering, 60 (4.4%) were for gambling, 62
(4.6%) were for homicide or assault, and 7 – about half a percent – were for kidnapping.

A 1998 report by the General Accounting Office notes, "...several studies and investigations of drugrelated police corruption found on-duty police officers engaged in serious criminal activities, such as
(1) conducting unconstitutional searches and seizures; (2) stealing money and/or drugs from drug
dealers; (3) selling stolen drugs; (4) protecting drug operations; (5) providing false testimony; and (6)
submitting false crime reports."

The international illicit drug business generates as much as $400 billion in trade annually according to
the United Nations International Drug Control Program report in 1998. That amounts to 8% of all
international trade and is comparable to the annual turnover in textiles, according to the study.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that 2.8% of all children under age 18 have at least one
parent in a local jail or a State or Federal prison – a total of nearly 2 million kids. One in 40 have an
incarcerated father, and 1 in 359 have an incarcerated mother.

Over 80% of the increase in the federal prison population from 1985 to 1995 was due to drug
convictions.

The US prison population exceeds 2 million people – making it the largest incarcerator on Earth,
exceeding China and Russia.

The number of women incarcerated in prisons and jails in the USA is approximately 10 times more
than the number of women incarcerated in Western European countries, even though Western
Europe's combined female population is about the same size as that of the USA. Over 70% of females
incarcerated are for non-violent drug offenses.
Sources: Doug McVay and DrugWarFacts.org
History of the War on Drugs Timeline
1762
Virginia awards bounties for hemp culture and manufacture, and imposes penalties upon
those who do not produce it.
1700s
Hemp is the primary crop grown by George Washington at his Mount Vernon estate, and
is the secondary crop grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.
1800s
The temperance movement gains steam in the US, with alcohol being blamed for surly
immigrants and poverty. Alcohol is depicted as a threat to the new American family.
1844
The alkaloid cocaine is isolated from coca leaves. While the plant is revered in South
American and by western explorers, the medical industry does not yet recognize its
therapeutic value.
1845
New York State prohibits the public sale of liquor; it lasts less than 2 years.
1860s
Opiates are used to save thousands of lives during the Civil War; surgical procedures leap
forward as a result and those with severe wounds and pain survive. Opium is produced in
the Confederate states (Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia) during the Civil
War.
1869
Prohibition Party is formed.
1870s
Over 60% of opium users are middle American women, who also share their ‘mother’s
little helper’ with their children, in drinkable tinctures, most popularly “laudanum.”
1874
The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union is formed in Cleveland, Ohio.
1875
The City of San Francisco adopts an ordinance prohibiting the smoking of opium. The
law is created not for health purposes, but to control the growing Chinese male
population. Laudanum remains popular and legal.
1878
The Posse Comitatus Act makes it illegal for the military to act as police on U.S. territory
or waters.
1880s
Pope Leo XIII endorses Vin Mariani, a popular coca wine in Europe.
1882
The Personal Liberty League of the United States is founded to oppose the expanding
Temperance movement.
1884
Sigmund Freud treats his depression with cocaine, and reports feeling "exhilaration and
lasting euphoria.”
1885
Laws are enacted to make anti-alcohol teaching compulsory in New York State public
schools.
1886
Colonel John Pemberton brews his first batch of Coca-Cola in an effort to recreate the
popular European coca wine, Vin Mariani. He leaves out the wine in order to avoid
problems with the Temperance movement. He does, however, leave in the coca.
1886
Congress makes Temperance education mandatory in the District of Columbia, territorial,
military and naval schools. By 1900, all states have similar laws.
1906
Pure Food and Drug Act is passed, forming the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
and giving it power to regulate foods and drugs, and requiring labeling of their contents.
1914
Harrison Narcotic Act is passed. Intended to be a law for the orderly marketing of opium,
morphine, heroin, and other drugs in small quantities over the counter and in larger
quantities "in the course of his [the physician’s] professional practice only." After
passage of the law, this clause was interpreted by law-enforcement officers to mean that a
doctor could not prescribe opiates to an addict to maintain his addiction. Since addiction
was not a disease, the argument went, an addict was not a patient, and opiates dispensed
to or prescribed for him by a physician were therefore not being supplied "in the course
of his professional practice." Many physicians are arrested, prosecuted, and publicly
ruined.
1914
El Paso, Texas enacts the first anti-marijuana law in the United States.
1915
Utah passes the first state anti-marijuana law.
1922
The Narcotic Drug Import and Export Act intends to eliminate narcotics except for
“legitimate” medicinal use.
1924
The Heroin Act makes it illegal to manufacture heroin.
1934
Marijuana Tax Act passed
1944
The LaGuardia Report, commissioned by New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia says
“Smoking marihuana does not lead to addiction... does not lead to morphine, heroin, or
cocaine addiction" and that "the publicity concerning the catastrophic effects of
marihuana smoking in New York City is unfounded." The report gains little attention, as
Harry Anslinger releases his propaganda report days earlier, utilizing the same type-set,
colors, and style as the LaGuardia Report, and making the opposite claims.
1942
Opium Poppy Control Act prohibits growing poppy without a license.
1951
The Durham-Humphrey Amendment establishes specific guidelines for prescription
drugs.
1951
The Boggs Amendment to the Harrison Narcotics Act
creates mandatory sentences for narcotic law violations.
1956
The Narcotics Control Act intends to impose more severe penalties for narcotics
violations.
1965
Drug Abuse Control Amendments (DACA) mandate strict control over amphetamines,
barbiturates, LSD, etc.
1966
The Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act allows treatment as an alternative to jail.
1970
The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) becomes the legal foundation of the government's
fight against the abuse of drugs. The CSA places all substances that are regulated under
existing federal law into one of five schedules, taking the power to classify drugs from
the FDA and putting it into the hands of the Justice Department.
1972
Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act establishes federally funded programs for
prevention and treatment of drug abuse.
1973
The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs becomes the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA.)
1974
High Times magazine is founded by Tom Forcade.
1978
The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act is amended. It now permits
law enforcement to seize money and objects that can be purchased or traded for a
controlled substance.
1970s
During the Carter Administration, eleven states decriminalize marijuana. Within 30
years, there is no such thing as “decriminalized” marijuana anywhere in the United
States.
1981
The Posse Comitatus Act is amended to allow limited military involvement in policing.
1982
On October 2nd, President Ronald Reagan promises the country that “we will win the war
on drugs.” It is the first time a declaration of ‘war on drugs’ is made publicly by the
president. The war, says Reagan, will be lead by then Vice-President, George Bush Sr.
1984
Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign kicks off.
1988
The Office of National Drug Control Policy is established by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act. It
brings all drug control under the umbrella of the Executive branch of government, further
eliminating checks and balances.
1991
The Posse Comitatus Act is amended to allow counter-drug training of civilian police by
the military.
2000
US Congress approves $1.3 Billion in military aid to Colombia to fight their drug war as
part of "Plan Colombia".
Sources: Drug Reform Coordination Network’s Schaffer Library of Drug Policy http://www.druglibrary.org