Lillian Miles

Young people go from marijuana to wild piano playing, hysteria and death.

Now that marijuana (aka "reefer", "bud", ) has been eliminated as a scourge, it's interesting to go back and look at the film that was almost singlehandedly responsible for its demise. Yes, Reefer Madness let the world know...

This 1936 propaganda film took on a life of its own when the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws dug it out of the Library of Congress in the early 1970s. Since then, the movie has become a cult hit among modern audiences, who appreciate the story line's comedic value. In short, a group of teens seduced by the power of "reefer" take a few puffs -- and instantly become psychotic killers, jazz addicts and whores.

Propaganda film that relates the story, as told by High School Principle Dr. Carroll to parents at a PTA meeting, of the scourge of marijuana. The tale revolves around Mae and Jack, accomplices in the distribution of marijuana, who manage to entice the local High School kids to stop by Mae's apartment to smoke reefer. The lives of all who are involved with this menace are inevitably shattered. One youngster becomes so addicted to the killer weed that a judge orders him to be committed for life to a mental hospital! Dr. Carroll advises us to not incur the same tragedy.

Young people go from marijuana to wild piano playing, hysteria and death.

Teens partake of the "demon weed" and one puff plunges them into a web of murder, sex and lunacy. In Vibrant Color!

Teens partake of the "demon weed" and one puff plunges them into a web of murder, sex and lunacy. In Vibrant Color!

Propaganda film that relates the story, as told by High School Principle Dr. Carroll to parents at a PTA meeting, of the scourge of marijuana. The tale revolves around Mae and Jack, accomplices in the distribution of marijuana, who manage to entice the local High School kids to stop by Mae's apartment to smoke reefer. The lives of all who are involved with this menace are inevitably shattered. One youngster becomes so addicted to the killer weed that a judge orders him to be committed for life to a mental hospital! Dr. Carroll advises us to not incur the same tragedy.

Tell Your Children -- Cautionary tale features a fictionalized and highly exaggerated take on the use of marijuana. A trio of drug dealers lead innocent teenagers to become addicted to 'reefer' cigarettes by holding wild parties with jazz music.

Cautionary tale features a fictionalized and highly exaggerated take on the use of marijuana. A trio of drug dealers lead innocent teenagers to become addicted to "reefer" cigarettes by holding wild parties with jazz music.

Unabashed propaganda film on the perils of marijuana use. Clean-cut WASP couple Bill and Mary are innocent high school students who play tennis and drink tea on the back porch. Their friend Jimmy introduces them to a pot dealer named Jack, who invites Bill back to his den of inequity, where stoned ne'er-do-wells laugh fiendishly, dance, and play the piano. After one joint, Bill is hooked and his and Mary's lives begin to spin out of control. Starring Dorothy Short and Kenneth Craig.

Tell Your Children -- Propaganda film that relates the story, as told by High School Principle Dr. Carroll to parents at a PTA meeting, of the scourge of marijuana. The tale revolves around Mae and Jack, accomplices in the distribution of marijuana, who manage to entice the local High School kids to stop by Mae's apartment to smoke reefer. The lives of all who are involved with this menace are inevitably shattered. One youngster becomes so addicted to the killer weed that a judge orders him to be committed for life to a mental hospital! Dr. Carroll advises us to not incur the same tragedy.