Reefer Madness - 1938

Considered THE archetypal sensationalized anti-drug movie, but it's really
an exploitation film made to capitalize on the hot taboo subject of marijuana use.
Like many exploitation films of the time, "Reefer Madness" tried to make a quick
buck off of a forbidden subject while skirting the Motion Picture Production Code
of 1930. The Code forbade the portrayal of immoral acts like drug use. (The illegal
drug traffic must not be portrayed in such a way as to stimulate curiosity concerning
the use of, or traffic in, such drugs; nor shall scenes be approved which show
the use of illegal drugs, or their effects, in detail.)



The film toured around the country for many years - often being re-edited and
re-titled (Tell Your Children, Dope Addict, Doped Youth, Love Madness,
The Burning Question). It was re-discovered in the early 1970s by NORML
(National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and screened
again
as an example of the government's demonization of marijuana. NORML may have
been confused about the film's sponsorship since one of the film's distributors,
Dwain Esper, testified to the Arizona Supreme Court that Reefer Madness was not a
trashy exploitation film but was actually sponsored by the U.S. government - a convincing lie, but a lie nonetheless.