The Story Behind the Marijuana Cigarette Pack in ‘Silver Circle’
July 25th, 2013
In Silver Circle‘s near-future dystopian alternate universe, which is set in 2019, marijuana has been legal in the US since 2016. When production first began on the film, the real-world marijuana decriminalization movement was in its infancy. A handful of states had approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, but the momentum had yet to reach critical mass. Today, thanks to organizations like Marijuana Policy Project, nationwide marijuana legalization has become an inevitability. Colorado and Washington have already decriminalized cannabis for recreational use. 19 states and Washington DC have legalized medical marijuana, and 5 more states have bills in the works right now.
The marijuana legalization movement still has a difficult journey ahead, as federal agents continue to raid even legal dispensaries, such as the raid that occurred just yesterday in the state of Washington. Will marijuana become legal in real life by 2016? It’s hard to tell at this point, but it’s not impossible, and it wouldn’t be the first time that the Silver Circle script foreshadowed events that would later take place in the real world. Let’s take a closer look at the symbolism of the marijuana cigarette pack Easter egg that appears in the film.
Few Films Depict a Future in Which Marijuana Has Been Legalized
Colorado and Washington are just now beginning to tackle the issues that come with a fully-legalized recreational marijuana industry. As cannabis begins its transition from alleged hardcore street drug to its proper role as a safer alternative to alcohol, the marketplace will begin to provide a robust array of products to meet the demands of consumers.
The team behind Silver Circle sensed this inevitability and wanted to tackle it in the story line. With marijuana having been legalized in 2016 in the film, Director Pasha Roberts noted that, “we had to figure out what commercial packaging would look like.” A marijuana cigarette pack, inspired by Marlboro’s iconic packaging, was designed to demonstrate marijuana as a normal and legal product. Despite the fact that marijuana legalization is an inevitability, few films have depicted how a legal cannabis industry might work in coming years. Silver Circle addresses the issue head on with this Easter egg — a tip of the hat to the activists out there working to end drug prohibition.
Meanwhile, in the Real World, the War on Drugs Is Still out of Control
The misguided prohibition policies pushed by progressives in the early 20th century are still in full force, as a wide array of intoxicating substances remain criminalized. Homeowners die when SWAT teams attempt midnight, no-knock raids on wrong addresses while pursuing drug dealers. Because of the War on Drugs, America imprisons more of its own than brutal dictatorships around the world.
Drug prohibition funds gangs, terrorist organizations, and drug cartels by providing them with a product to sell at an unusually high profit margin. If marijuana were to become a fully legal product in real life like it is in the Silver Circle story line, then the violence associated with drug cartels and gangs would consequently evaporate, sparing lives.
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