Pubdate: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2000 The Toronto Star Contact: One Yonge St., Toronto ON, M5E 1E6 Fax: (416) 869-4322 Website: http://www.thestar.com/ Forum: http://www.thestar.com/editorial/disc_board/ Page: D5 Author: Betsy Powell, Entertainment Reporter ONTARIO REVIEW BOARD LEGALIZES GRASS Reverses ruling to cut acclaimed Canadian pot documentary The Ontario Film Review Board has reversed its decision and says it's now okay for moviegoers in the province to see an acclaimed documentary that shows four laboratory monkeys smoking pot. Last week, a three-member panel ruled the film Grass could not be shown in Ontario theatres unless Toronto filmmaker Ron Mann removed the 20-second scene, taken from 30-year-old archival footage of U.S. government researchers. Distributor Lions Gate Films appealed, and yesterday five board members not on the original panel decided Grass can be screened without cuts. It will be classified Adult Accompaniment (AA) and carry a warning about "mature theme and substance abuse." "I'm glad the censor board sobered up over the weekend," Mann said. "It's ironic, the movie is only incidentally about marijuana. Its message is one about personal freedom." Bob Warren, head of the review board, yesterday said the original panelists weren't objecting to the chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys smoking pot, but to the restraints that were used. The Ontario Theatres Act prohibits movies from depicting scenes "where an animal has been abused in the making of the film." "The subsequent panel felt that this was sort of a historical context of something that was done as part of a proper lab experiment and it was something that should be shown," he said. In fact, he added, "both panels did feel that it was a very good movie and that it should be seen, if possible, by a large number of people." John Bain, a spokesman for Lions Gate, said the company was confident it would win the appeal because the ruling "made no sense of all." "We thought, 'Okay, it's a publicity bonanza.' Generally it helps us, it doesn't hurt." Grass, narrated by Woody Harrelson, screens Saturday at the Paramount before opening June 16 at the Bloor Cinema. The film was the top-earning independent release this past weekend in New York and San Francisco, Mann said. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek