Photo courtesy of Howard Dover Howard
Dover, the creator of "High Hopes," will be performing at
the benefit as well.
By Antero Garcia
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Many comedians like Giulian Jones, are quick to point out the
positive effects legalizing marijuana would have on society.
“How many times have you heard about a guy who got drunk
and killed someone?” Jones asked in a phone interview from
his home in Hollywood. “Often. How many times have you heard
about a guy who smoked a joint and went out and killed
somebody?
“Maybe he got high, thought about killing somebody, ate a
bag of Cheetos and forgot about it.”
Jones and a huge lineup of famous entertainers, including Bill
Maher, Woody Harrelson and Dennis Miller, will be performing in
“High Hopes” Sept. 2 at the Improv Comedy Club in
Hollywood. The show is being produced to raise money as well as
awareness for the legalization of medicinal marijuana.
According to Howard Dover, the show’s creator and one of
its performers, 75 percent of the show’s proceeds will be
given to Californians for Compassionate Use, an organization that
advocates the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The other 25
percent will be given to an organization called Compassionate Moms,
which helps coordinate visits between prisoners and their families
and also takes home-ridden patients on outside excursions.
Noting the multitude of comedic benefit shows, Dover explained
that he created “High Hopes” because marijuana helped
his cousin through his pain while living with AIDS.
Since this realization nearly three years ago, Dover has
produced nine similar benefits in the past three years in
Montreal.
“Marijuana stimulated his appetite, it helped him keep
down the drugs he was taking, it reduced nausea, and helped him get
back to as good a health as possible,” Dover said. “It
really helped save him. It just got me thinking, “˜Why
isn’t that more readily available?'”
Other performers on the show’s lineup also question why
marijuana is not legal.
“I’m thoroughly convinced over the last decade that
we have legalized the wrong drugs,” comedian Mike McDonald
said from his home in Glendale.
Besides alleviating the pain that patients suffer, some
activists point out that marijuana is more naturally produced than
drugs that are already legal.
“Marijuana is grown free,” Jones said. “You
don’t grow beer, you don’t grow Pepsi Cola, and you
don’t grow cigarettes. So it’s odd that this is
illegal.”
While these activists question why marijuana continues to be
illegal, many share McDonald’s frustration over the harsh
laws regarding sale of the drug.
“It kills me how there’s some kid in Michigan
who’s doing 18 years for buying a joint off of an undercover
cop at a Kiss concert, and I can go up there and kill somebody in
my car and get out in three years,” McDonald said. “It
should be a no brainer, but here we are having to have a benefit
for this.”
With the benefit show created to help raise awareness about
medicinal marijuana, one performer, Cecily Knobler, feels that the
college audience is exactly the type of crowd that should attend
the show.
“I think college, not that it’s the first time that
you explore new ideas, is a time when you can go against things you
were taught,” Knobler said, “I can’t think of a
better audience than the college crowd.”
Not only are college students exploring new ideas. In a recent
poll by USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup, 34 percent of adults favored
legalizing marijuana ““ the highest amount in more than 30
years.
Though not everyone’s opinion of marijuana will change
after seeing “High Hopes,” Jones will still try to
change the minds of his opponents.
“You will never hold up a liquor store after smoking two
joints,” Jones said. “You will never beat up your
girlfriend after a bowl of some chronic. I guaran-damn-tee it. You
might think about it, but then you’re going to take another
hit and fall asleep in a puddle of your own piss.”
COMEDY: “High Hopes” will be held
at the Improv, at 8162 Melrose Ave. in Hollywood. The cover charge
is $15 plus a two drink minimum. For reservations, contact the
Improv at (323) 651-2583.