“WAITING TO INHALE” – FILM and Discussion of Medical Marijuana
7 pm Wednesday Oct. 21st
Talbot Hall (Luther Bonney Auditorium) USM Portland
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
The University of Southern Maine’s Women and Gender Studies Program and the Sociology Department present a free screening and discussion of the award winning documentary, Waiting to Inhale.
Waiting to Inhale (see: http://www.waitingtoinhale.org/) examines the use of cannabis as medicine in the United States. Thirteen states, including Maine, have passed legislation to protect patients who use medical marijuana. Yet opponents claim the medical argument is just a smokescreen for a different agenda-- to legalize marijuana for recreation and profit. What claims are being made, and what are the stakes?
Waiting to Inhale takes viewers inside the lives of patients who have been forever changed by illness—and parents who lost their children to addiction. Is marijuana really a gateway drug? What evidence is there to support the claim that marijuana can alleviate some of the devastating symptoms of AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis? And what would an ethical not-for-profit medical marijuana distribution system look like?
This last question considered in the film as it examines one patient-caregiver cooperative (“the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana”) is especially relevant to Maine voters who will be deciding on November 3rd (ballot question #5) whether to allow state-licensed not-for-profit medical marijuana distribution in the state of Maine.
Following the screening of the film, USM professor Wendy Chapkis (author of the new book Dying to Get High: marijuana as medicine) will facilitate a discussion of these issues.
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. For more information: chapkis@usm.maine.edu or 780-4289
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“GIRLS ROCK!”
A Film and a Discussion on
Girls and Gender Resistance through Music
4:30 pm Thursday November 5th
University Events Room (7th Floor Glickman Library) USM Portland
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
The University of Southern Maine’s Women and Gender Studies Program and the School of Music present a free screening and discussion of the documentary, Girls Rock!
Girls Rock! (see: info@girlsrockmovie.com) is a captivating documentary of a week-long rock & roll camp for girls ages 8 to 18 where they learn that it’s “okay to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee and wail on instruments with complete and utter abandon.” What happens to the girls as they take on gender socialization and their own nerves is both moving and revolutionary.
Following the screening of the film, USM Women and Gender Studies professors Kate Wininger and Jim Messerschmidt will facilitate a discussion on girls and gender resistance through music.
For more information: lwebster@usm.maine.edu or 780-4862.
