BET's Smoke: Marijuana + Black America is equal parts love story, tragedy and outrage

The Washington Post

The documentary narrated by Nasir “Nas” Jones and directed by Erik Parker is "a cultural history running parallel to the nation’s systemic and hypocritical racism in more ways than some viewers (and marijuana users) may want to admit." Smoke, he says, "emphasizes the big picture first, through marijuana’s influence in the music industry. Recalling his jazz-musician father’s use of marijuana, Nas introduces the viewers to the idea of the drug as a benign and presumed part of life rather than as an illicit vice — a conduit rather than an affliction. Others acknowledge the drug’s creative influence, while journalists who write about Black culture help pinpoint marijuana’s role in art and lyrics."