Filmmaker of New Marijuana Movie Was Victim of Drug War, Now Wins Top Honors at Film Festival

Former federal prisoner turned filmmaker Amy Povah and LAPD Deputy Chief S. Downing (Ret.) at the premier of her film, features many Law Enforcement Against Prohibition members. The film won top honors for Best Feature Documentary. (Photo credit: MedicalMarijuana411.com)

In 1991 Amy Ralston Povah was sentenced to 24 years in Federal prison. Her only crime was being divorced from an alleged “drug kingpin.”

Her story is featured in Charles Shaw’s Exile Nation Project, where Amy relays the horrors of her arrest and prosecution, the 9 years she spent in prison, and her long and arduous journey to eventually win clemency in 2000 from President Clinton.

 

Now she is helping share other stories from victims of the drug war and how the policies were put in place long ago.

420: The Documentary is a remarkable achievement and recently won Best Documentary (Feature) at the Awareness Film Festival in Santa Monica, California.

A trailer for the film can be seen here.

Amy is the Founder and Director of CAN-DO, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit foundation that advocates Clemency for All Non-violent Drug Offenders, a group that advocates for people that have been wrongfully or unjustly convicted in drug “conspiracy” cases. “The repercussions of a single injustice spread unnecessary suffering to all the innocent family members and friends. Moreover, the impact on a child that loses a parent — especially a mother — to incarceration yields horrible consequences and perpetrates a vicious cycle of negative behavioral patterns. (Source: CAN-DO)