Reefer Madness

This huge cult classic released in 1936 revolves around the dangers of "marijuana addiction," highlighting the magnified symptoms of marijuana use, which leads the film's main characters down a road of mischief and mayhem. A high school principal warns parents at a PTA meeting of the dangers of marijuana by narrating the tale of a pair of high school sweethearts, Bill (Kenneth Craig) and Mary (Dorothy Short), who exchange a clean-cut life of tea drinking and tennis for a life of drug use, and consequently, a life of promiscuity, violence, and insanity. Instantly and hopelessly hooked on "the devil weed," the couple finds themselves ensnared in heinous situations and calamitous events that result in death and mental institution imprisonment. Reefer Madness urges the viewer to shun "the devil weed," thus avoiding similar tragedies as incurred by the central characters. The film concludes with the menacing forewarning, "The dread marijuana may be reaching forth next for your son or daughter... or yours... or YOURS!"

Director: Louis J. Gasnier
Producer: Dwain Esper
Producer: George A. Hirliman