Reefer Madness – A Reflection of Society’s Attitudes “Reefer Madness” is a film that that exploited and helped increase a growing American hysteria concerning the “evils” of marijuana use during the 1930s. Varying claims are made about the films origins with different sources saying that it is a government anti-drug, propaganda film, a religious creation, or possibly an exploitation film seeking to avoid film censorship. Whatever its origin, “Reefer Madness” exaggerated the growing fears of middle-class, Caucasian Americans towards marijuana. During this time period, many feared that if the use of marijuana was not stopped their teenage children would become sexually promiscuous and that violent crime, mainly committed by minorities, would …show more content…
become out of control. To better understand this film and why its content was originally viewed as a true reflection of marijuana use, one has to look at the political and social climate during the 1930s. The creation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, racial prejudice, and economic hardship all helped to create a growing fear of the dangers of marijuana. The first societal influence that helped shape the theme of “Reefer Madness” was the end of the Mexican Revolution in 1910. This resulted in large numbers of Mexican immigrants fleeing to the United States bringing with them the recreational use of marijuana. Use of the plant soon became associated with Spanish-speaking people. High unemployment during the 1930s combined with racial prejudice against Mexicans lead to a growing resentment against these new immigrants. This resentment led to “research” linking marijuana use to violent crime and other socially deviant behaviors in “racially inferior” neighbors (How). The creation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1930 along with its first director, Harry Anslinger, was a second major factor in shaping societies opinion of marijuana.
With the looming repeal of prohibition, law enforcement agencies sought another target for their concern. Harry Anslinger, former Commissioner of Prohibition, actively campaigned for the criminalizing of marijuana. His sensational testimonies before Congress linking marijuana to violent crime, usually involving black Americans, Hispanics, and other ethnic minorities, helped in the passage of the 1937 Anslinger Act which outlawing marijuana. His writings helped create an anti-marijuana hysteria with the public (How). One such writing is below: In Los Angeles, Calif., a youth was walking along a downtown street after inhaling a marijuana cigarette. For many addicts, merely a portion of a “reefer” is enough to induce intoxication. Suddenly, for no reason, he decided that someone had threatened to kill him and that his life at that very moment was in danger. Wildly he looked about him. The only person in sight was an aged bootblack. Drug-crazed nerve centers conjured the innocent old shoe-shiner into a destroying monster. Mad with fright, the addict hurried to his room and got a gun. He killed the old man, and then, later, babbled his grief over what had been wanton, uncontrolled murder. “I thought someone was after me, he said. “That’s the only reason I did it. I had never seen the old fellow …show more content…
before. Something just told me to kill him!” That’s marijuana! (Anslinger). “Reefer Madness” shows the influences of Harry Anslinger’s anti-marijuana campaign. The movie’s plot touches on most of the societal fears during 1930’s Caucasian Americans believed about marijuana. Exploiting these fears, the movie does a through account of demonizing “reefers”. Corrupting underage high school students, insanity, manslaughter, promisicus sex, attempted rape, murder, suicide, dancing, and playing jazz music are only a few of the horrors the movie portrays marijuana causing. The film is supposedly a morality tale warning parents about what could happen to their children if exposed to marijuana. The movie flashes to scenes where a high school principal, Dr. Alfred Carroll, is giving a lecture at a PTA meeting in which he is telling parents about what will happen if their children use marijuana. The movie supposedly shows how marijuana can be given to unsuspecting victims. A marijuana cigarette is given to an unsuspecting high school student named Mary who thinks it is a regular cigarette. Mary is then is accidently killed during a marijuana induced fight between her boyfriend, Bill Harper, and a drug dealer. High school student Bill Harper is sentenced to prison, though later released, thinking he killed his girlfriend. One of the marijuana drug dealers goes permanently insane. Another drug dealer commits suicide. High school student Jimmy Lane, after smoking part of a hemp cigarette while driving, hits and injures a pedestrian. The message of “Reefer Madness” is that even a small exposure to such a powerful drug can corrupt an innocent teenager. It is better that they use only alcohol and tobacco – whose use is displayed in the movie. Marijuana use causes permanent insanity or suicide. America needs to keep its young people safe by banning it use. With its lurid content, the question arises of who was behind the creation of “Reefer Madness”. Origins of the movie and the actual date of when the move was made are unclear. Various sources give the release date of movie between 1936 and 1938. The film credits only list the word “Copyright” with no date. Several creators have been suggested for the movie, including the United States Government as anti-drug propaganda and a church group who made the movie to show the dangers of drug use. What is known about the film’s history is that small-time movie producer, Dwain Esper, came into possession of the movie, and it soon became a part of 1930s small-town, American culture – the traveling roadshow picture (Smetanka). “Reefer Madness”, and other similar type movies, were exploitation type films that sought to bypass The Motion Picture Production Code (Hays Code) of the 1930s passed by the major studios. This code included the ban on nudity and the showing of any type of narcotics use in the movies (Motion). Traveling roadshow movies bypassed the censorship of the large studios by avoiding the studio distribution networks and by showing the roadside movies under the guise of being “educational” films. These movies would be shown for several days in small, local theaters. The showings would be preceded by flyers posted in a town several days before the showing declaring that an “adult only” movie covering topics such as venereal disease, race-mixing, or drug use was coming to the town. The aim of these types of movies was to make money while preying on people’s fears and sometimes offering viewers a glimpse of nudity. “Reefer Madness” toured the country on this circuit for several years sometimes re-edited and re-tiled under such names as “Dope Addict”, “Love Madness”, and “Tell Your Children” till it temporarily faded from public view (Smetanka). “Moviemakers have been providing America, and world audiences, with entertainments that have both reflected and shaped audience desires for more than a century” (Maasik 365). Unlike other many other exploitive type, roadshow pictures of the 1930s, “Reefer Madness” saw a revival in its fame. After its copyright had expired, the movie was rediscovered in 1971 by NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). It soon became a cult classic watched on college campuses and midnight movie theaters (often with viewers indulging in “reefer” use). The movie is now in the public domain and easily accessed from numerous internet sites. Modern viewers watch the movie, not as a warning about drug use, but as a hilarious, campy comedy (Beggs). “Reefer Madness” would never be considered a serious film in today’s culture.
Showing marijuana smokers as crazed lunatics is simply laughed at by today’s audiences. Having premarital sex, listening to jazz music, dancing, and smoking are not “evils” that the majority of American society feels compelled to eliminate. Few viewers today believe that marijuana causes manic behavior such as not remembering if you murdered someone, playing the piano to fast, or laughing crazily while driving and running down pedestrians. With Colorado and Washington legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, society’s views towards marijuana have become more
tolerant. Despite America’s changing views, the drug fears that “Reefer Madness” exploited continue to persist. Marijuana is still classified as a narcotic by the Federal government. Non-medical use marijuana is still classified as a felony in Arizona. Such laws continue Harry Asinlinger’s beliefs. While we laugh at “Reefer Madness”, its underlying society message still lingers.
Reefer Madness starts off as a PSA, of an authority figure at a high school which is telling them how this new drug marijuana is sweeping the nation and how to stay away from it. He then tells the young teens a story about how terrible and bad the “menace marihuana” is, and that it is a growing epidemic in the young community. It explains that marijuana is a “violent narcotic – an unspeakable scourge”. The story starts at the house of Mae and Jack. Jack walks in and tells Mae that the “marines” just arrived and that the house should start making their merchandise. A lot of people come to the house and start investing in the idea of the drug house that Jack is offering. Jack goes out and tries to recruit young people right outside the schools,
Reefer Madness is a movie that was made to draw the public's attention toward marijuana, the specific groups that were at risk, and the consequences that were directly related to using the drug. The purpose of this 1930's film was to create a public fear for the well being of society. Knowing that this movie was made decades ago, it is clear to see that the movie exaggerated both the amount of terrifying behavior and the number of people involved in order to emphasize its detriments.
David Sheff starts the story of his family with Nic’s birth and goes all the way long to the present days when his son had survived several years of drug abuse, rehabilitations and relapses. Sheff confesses that his son started to use different kinds of drugs when he was very young. At the age of 11 he would try alcohol and some pot. “In early May, I pick Nic up after school one day …When he climbs into a car I smell cigarette smoke. I lecture him and he promises not to do it again. Next Friday after school…I am packing an overnight bag for him and look for a sweater in his backpack. I do not find a sweater, but instead discover a small bag of marijuana.” (Sheff, 200...
Mekdlawit Demissie IGED 130-06 Informative Speech Outline Topic: Marijuana Speech Goal: To inform the audience about the long and short term effects of marijuana usage. Central Idea: Marijuana is the most commonly used drug amongst young people in the United States. Introduction: I. Attention getter:
Throughout “Chasing the Scream” many intriguing stories are told from individuals involved in the drug war, those on the outside of the drug war, and stories about those who got abused by the drug war. Addiction has many social causes that address drug use and the different effects that it has on different people. In our previous history we would see a tremendous amount of individuals able to work and live satisfying lives after consuming a drug. After the Harrison Act, drugs were abolished all at once, but it lead to human desperation so instead of improving our society, we are often the reason to the problem. We constantly look at addicts as the bad guys when other individuals are often the reasons and influences to someone’s decision in
Before any federal law regarding marijuana was ever proposed, some of the States took it upon themselves to regulate the possession, distribution and consumption of marijuana based on racial prejudice against Chinese immigrants. Referencing law passed by the state of California in 1913 one physician observes that, “The 1913 law received no attention from the press or the public. Instead, it was promulgated as an obscure amendment to the state Poison Law by the California Board of Pharmacy, which was then pioneering one of the nation's earliest, most aggressive anti-narcotics campaigns. Inspired by anti-Chinese sentiment, California was a nationally recognized leader in ...
Marijuana in America became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was openly sold in pharmacies in the late nineteenth century (“Busted-America’s War on Marijuana Timeline”). The National Institute of Drug Abuse defines marijuana as, “The dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, which contains the psychoactive (mind-altering) chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as other related compounds” (“DrugFacts: Marijuana”). It was not until the Food and Drug act of 19...
Reefer Madness Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in The American Black Market, begins with the author defining what the black market is. He leads on to discuss the history and the present size of the black market. The author also discussed the emergence of the black market as an underground economy. Next, the book transitioned to an essay titled reefer Madness. Reefer madness discusses marijuana’s presence in the United States. The essay begins with an overview of the history of Marijuana. It discusses its presence in history as well as how it was criminalized, decimalized, and criminalized again. The next section of the essay covers the penalties for marijuana. The book then details a marijuana growing operation in the American Midwest. Furthermore,
Throughout history people have used marijuana for its dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds to relieve pain, stress, and other medical issues from one’s life. Within the recent years it has become one of the most debated issues in the United States. In the 1930s, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs) claimed that marijuana was a “gateway” drug and was a powerful, addicting substance. During the sixties marijuana became a symbol for rebellion against authority so it became very popular by college students and “hippies”. So in 1982, Drug Enforcement Administration increased pressure on drug farms and houses which decreased the use of marijuana. In the past twenty years marijuana has become a
For nearly one hundred and fifty years marijuana has been illegal in the United States of America. Though marijuana naturally grew in all of our fifty states, it was outlawed due the superior strength and durability of hemp rope. This threatened to replace cotton rope, which would cost wealthy cotton owners a lot of money. To this day marijuana is still outlawed in the U.S., however rope has nothing to do with it. Once slavery and the “cotton boom” were over hemp made a little bit of a comeback in a smoking form. Then, in the early 1940’s the government began releasing anti-marijuana propaganda. In the 1960’s when marijuana became popular amongst pop-culture, a movie by the name of “Reefer Madness” was released depicting marijuana users as fiends and criminals who’s normal everyday lives fell apart, and spun out of control due to the addiction to the drug. Even in the present day organizations, as well as the government, continue to try and sway people from using the substance by portraying users as irresponsible idiots. Some examples of behaviors portrayed in the commercials are: accidental shootings, running over a little girl on a bike, molesting a passed out girl, supporting terror, and impregnating/becoming impregnated. I feel that these advertisements are ridiculously tasteless and misleading. Through personal experience, surveys, an interview, and a case study I intend to prove that marijuana users do not behave in the fashion that the anti-marijuana campaign ads would suggest, and furthermore, I expect to find that the ads so grossly misrepresent the common user, even those who do not use disagree with the negative portrayals. I also challenge you to think about the suggested situations and behaviors from the commercials, I feel that you’ll see every situation and behavior in the advertisements is much more feasible to a person under the influence of alcohol than under the influence of marijuana.
The legalization of marijuana has been a highly debated topic for many of years. Since the first president to the most recent, our nation’s leaders have consumed the plant known as weed. With such influential figures openly using this drug why is it so frowned upon? Marijuana is considered a gateway drug, a menace to society, and mentally harmful to its consumers. For some people weed brings a sense of anxiety, dizziness, or unsettling feeling.
The use of marijuana has been a controversial topic since the early 1900’s. This is a big problem because there are good and bad effects while using marijuana. A movie back in 1939 Reefer Madness directed by Louis J. Gasnier shows that marijuana becomes a big problem and it how quick it is affecting our high schoolers. The movie shows the bad side effects of smoking marijuana, but it is based on additives on marijuana. In the beginning of the movie is trying to frighten us with words such as “ startle, destroying, frightful, alarmingly and violent” to show us marijuana is a horrible drug (Reefer Madness). The purpose of the those words was to show us that your child could be next using the menace drug marijuana. In the “Foreword” of the
However, in the early 1900’s things changed, and prejudice and fear began to develop around marijuana because it was being used and associated with Mexican immigrants. In the 1930’s, the massive unemployment rates increased public resentment and disgust of Mexican immigrants, which escalated public and governmental concern (PBS, 2014). In 1930 a new federal law enforcement agency, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) was created. Harry J. Anslinger was appointed the first commissioner of the FBN in 1930 (Filan, 2011). In 1936, as the head of the FBN, Anslinger received several reports about smoking marijuana.
Aslinger. Commissioner Harry J. Anslinger, from 1930 to 1962l, waged its own war, at first primarily on marijuana, but also to a great degree on jazz musicians and jazz culture. Anslinger came to power in the era of Reefer Madness, the title of a rather ridiculous 1938 anti-drug film that has come to stand in for hyperbolic anti-pot paranoia of the ’30s and ’40s. Much of that madness was the Commissioner’s special creation. Like so much of the post-Nixon drug war, Anslinger staged his campaign as a moral crusade against certain kinds of users: dissidents, the counterculture, and especially immigrants and blacks. According to Alexander Cockburn’s Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs, and the Press, Anslinger’s “first major campaign was to criminalize the drug commonly known as hemp. But Anslinger renamed it “marijuana” to associate it with Mexican laborers, and claimed that the drug “can arouse in blacks and Hispanics a state of menacing fury or homicidal attack.” Anslinger “became the prime shaper of American attitudes to drug addiction.” And like later despisers of rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop, Anslinger’s hatred of jazz motivated many of his targeted attacks. He linked marijuana with jazz and persecuted many black musicians, including Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington. Louis Armstrong was also arrested on drug charges, and Anslinger made sure his name was smeared
The "War on Drugs" Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1986. Kennedy, X.J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron, eds. The Bedford Reader. 6th ed. of the book.