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Reefer Madness Analysis

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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

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