ipl-logo

Reefer Madness Analysis

508 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on marijuana in american history

During the 1930s, marijuana was the common thing in social environments and was tolerated because it was legal. Recreational use spread into the music business becoming a rage in the jazz world known for the hit song “Sweet Marihuana Brown”. People started calling marijuana reefer and people were confused because they had never heard the word used. Reefer is defined as a hand-rolled marijuana cigarette, which is more commonly known as a joint (Levinthal, 2016). In 1936 the anti-marijuana themed movie, Reefer Madness, was released to the public for showing in the community. By this time, these movies were reinforcing a clearly established social message: Marijuana was dangerous and singlehandedly corrupting the innocent youth of America (Levinthal, 2016). Reefer Madness was a story about teenagers who were lured into a dangerous lifestyle of using marijuana and other illicit drugs that has affected the core of their life. …show more content…

On the other hand, racist newspaper owner William Hearst, created false stories stating that marijuana is evil and turned high school kids into addicts just as the movie had portrayed. This lead to the public hysteria over smoking marijuana which prevented the cultivation or importation of hemp products coming into the United States. People believed the Hearst and DuPont families created the movie to keep other products from competing with their products. After the production of the movie it only opened different opinions about marijuana use in the country. Marijuana continued to be the easiest drug to entertain in social gatherings despite some people calling it the “killer weed”. During continued education in the school system we can only hope that students will make better choices and not get involved with something that could ruin their

Show More
Related

Summary Of Homegrown By Isaac Campos

776 Words | 4 Pages

While the spread of marijuana was going through Mexico, the United States began taking in the drug near the beginning of the twentieth century. One issue that caused the spread of marijuana domestically, was the influence that Mexico gained from the press’ stories and report on marijuana and the different kinds mentioned in chapter eight, such as “locoweed, loco poison, and weed of bughouse propensities” (214). As the stories of weed began to scatter into the United States, newspapers picked up on it and began to say marijuana “effects a smoker making them wilder than a wild beast” (215). The more the ideas and culture of marijuana put forth by the Mexican and United States press, eventually helped lead to the prohibition in Mexico in 1920. This prohibition in 1920 helped Mexico portray a public victory against marijuana during what became a first structural “War on Drugs” by Mexican government and

Read More

A Brief Overview Of The Book Homegrown By Isaac Campos

763 Words | 4 Pages

Did this drug actually make people mad and cause violence or was it being overblown in any way. According to Campos, there was an overwhelming stigma that marijuana did in fact cause madness and violence amongst its users. Hundreds of indigenous reports of violence were conveyed and being spread to the masses. In chapter four of this book, Campos shows the ways marijuana was portrayed in the media and by yellow journalism. In the early twentieth century, media outlets had picked up substantially in North America, including Mexico.

Read More

David Lawrence Weed Summary

172 Words | 1 Pages

This article talks about David Lawrence’s true experience with weed, he had to live it to be against it. He talks about how he wanted to be cool and started smoking weed when he mixed with the wrong crowd at the age of 16. He was always told that weed leads to other drugs but he believed that was a lie until it happened to him. He states that pot might not lead everyone to harder drugs, but it does to some. In three months of using weed he stole pills from his mom, drank alcohol, and once snorted bleach to be “cool.”

Read More

Reefer Madness: Anti-Marijuana Propaganda Film

102 Words | 1 Pages

Reefer Madness is an anti-marijuana propaganda film. The film shows the exaggerated dangers of marijuana use, with the purpose of creating support for anti-marijuana laws and creating deviant behavior by criminalizing marijuana, throughout the film you will see the ‘consequences’ of using marijuana which include; psychotic behavior, a ‘hit and run’ accident, a suicide, and a murder. Deviance is a violation of social norms, and is created by a society when the majority of individuals in a society agree upon it; the intention of the filmmakers was to shift public opinion on marijuana by showing ridiculous uncivilized behavior when using the drug.

Read More

The Union The Business Behind Getting High Summary

384 Words | 2 Pages

The documentary, “The Union: The Business Behind Getting High,” introduces the history of marijuana, clarifies misconceptions, and discusses the benefits of this drug. In the beginning of the video, it talks about the background of marijuana and how it came to be: from being used as agricultural uses like making fiber and paper to being a drug, there are many laws passed that explain what made marijuana illegal. This documentary interviews the opinions of everyday people, people who use medicinal marijuana, and experts like the Mayor of Vancouver and the Professor of Economics about their knowledge of marijuana and their opinions against prohibition. It also discusses misconceptions such as marijuana killing brain cells and raises awareness

Read More

The Union The Business Behind Getting High Ethos

1023 Words | 5 Pages

The documentary explains how hemp was such a large industry and “the first marijuana law to exist in the United States was a law ordering farmers to grow hemp”, and then changes to how marijuana became a feared drug. The documentary explains how reefer madness in the 1900s depicted blacks as criminals who smoked weed and disrespected whites in articles and newspapers, which led to the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act which made it illegal to grow cannabis without federal stamps, which were never sold which in turn made all forms of cannabis illegal. Then, the government changed its take on marijuana and decided that “it didn’t make people violent at all, it made them pacifists” and this was bad in times of war, so the government decided marijuana was illegal. This is change in position is a key use of logos and ethos because it is illogical to have a substance illegal for the very opposite reason it was illegal in the first place, and it plays on ethics because the government is just using marijuana as a tool to sway citizens to support the war. The delicate balance of an interesting story and the lack of logic in why marijuana is illegal are very persuasive tools in the

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of The Union: The Business Behind Getting High

1357 Words | 6 Pages

“It’s a weird thing that you do when you make nature against the law,” said actor Joe Roegan (qtd. in Harvey). Marijuana is one of the most useful plants known to mankind but many negative aspects have come along with it since people have begun using it as a drug. Many say marijuana has killed thousands of people, it is a gateway drug, or anything else that may be negatively correlated with it, but The Union: The Business behind Getting High documentary dismisses many of these accusations and expounds on the reality of marijuana. The Union defends marijuana with high credibility and great statistics, analyzes the American government for its insufficient studies on marijuana, and describes the business of it.

Read More

Easy Rider Analysis

1021 Words | 5 Pages

During the time of Easy Rider, marijuana was considered taboo by many, and the act of smoking was not only for the effects of the drug, but for the rebellion that came with it. The use of the drug in Old Joy has a different meaning behind it, for the character’s intent, it was to simply relax and revel in the nature and nostalgia of the

Read More

Marijuan Breaking Down The Buzz Analysis

265 Words | 2 Pages

In the “Marijuana: A Continuing Concern for Pediatricians” article the author points out the fact that marijuana is in fact “an addictive, mind-altering drug capable of inducing dependency” (Marijuana: A Continuing Concern). After some research this statement has been clearly supported. According to the author of “Marijuana: Breaking Down the Buzz” being under the influence of the drug has led to very poor decisions. Some of the poor decisions teenagers make while being under the influence include; people not completing high school, having failing grades if they are still in school, and doing reckless things while behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Read More

Propaganda Film: Reefer Madness

1284 Words | 6 Pages

The use and effects of marijuana were seemingly becoming an issue therefore the reefer madness campaign was an educational advocacy. On the other hand, getting Reefer Madness to have the same successful effect in 2018 would be the ultimate challenge. Once fascinating rationale is to thoroughly look at the generations we are dealing with when comparing why there was a well working effect during the time of release compared to it not having the same effect now. Released in 1936, Reefer Madness falls right in the middle of the silent generation (roughly 1925-1945). Seeing as though those born in the silent generation were relatively young in age, the ideal or target generation this film was intended for would be those born in the greatest generation (roughly 1910-1924).

Read More

What Is The Theme Of Up In Smoke Counterculture

683 Words | 3 Pages

This is based on the fact that when the movie was being acted, Marijuana was still illegal under federal law, and many states also had laws criminalizing its possession and use. However, there was also a growing countercultural movement that challenged these laws and advocated for the legalization of Marijuana. Equally, the does implicitly comment on the social and cultural attitudes towards marijuana use. The characters in the movie are portrayed as rebellious and countercultural, and their use of Marijuana is presented as a form of resistance to mainstream norms and values. " Up in Smoke" may have played a role in shaping cultural attitudes towards drug use; however, there were no much that was changed as per the movie as some of the need and advocates as per the movie could not be taken into account based n cultural necessity, ethics and legality of such (Dal Cin et al. 2007).

Read More

Argumentative Essay On Woodstock

1748 Words | 7 Pages

In the 1960’s marijuana use had no outstanding effects on the United States people but in today's society the use of marijuana had become a huge epidemic over the past years. Even though it has been scientifically proven that marijuana can help seizures, Crohn’s, and effects of cancer, yet many people in today's society still believe that it has no use. In the United States 45 percent of drug arrest in 2013 were due to marijuana, but at Woodstock in 1969 when there was a controversial “Drug War” no one was arrested for marijuana (Merino par. 3). The use of marijuana is more strict in the United States now then it was in

Read More

Exploratory Essay

498 Words | 2 Pages

Walking into a high school, it is not uncommon to hear teenagers complain about the strains of an education. They may not realize, however, the numerous benefits of learning. Education is important because it makes the leaders of tomorrow more capable of dealing with real-world issues and eventually leads to economic growth, sustaining society. Any long-time teacher is familiar with a teenager's uninterested groan and the following, "When will we actually use this?"

Read More

Medical Marijuana Argumentative Essay

1461 Words | 6 Pages

Marijuana, formerly known as Cannabis, has been looked at in a medical sense for centuries. Marijuana was seen as a household drug throughout the seventeenth to the early twentieth century as a remedy to reduce nausea or vomiting, headaches, an anti-inflammatory, and the choice of pain reliever. In the 1920s, the Eighteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcohol, also known as Prohibition. As a result, marijuana flourished as a psychoactive drug.

Read More

Drug Use And Crime: Deviant Behavior

1455 Words | 6 Pages

The history of marijuana as well as the information and studies drawn and discussed in this essay show that marijuana legalization for medical and/or recreational purposes will not only positively impact society, but also change the society’s idea of marijuana use as a deviant act. Deviant behavior negatively impacts society, therefore the idea that marijuana use is a positive impact for society will, in turn, change the idea that marijuana use is an act/form of

Read More

More about Reefer Madness Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document