Reefer madness

Many of you would be well aware of the 1936 movie Reefer Madness. Originally financed by a church group and made under the title Tell Your Children, the film revolves around the events that follow a group of teenagers being convinced to try “marijuana”. As Wikipedia summarises it, “A hit and run accident, manslaughter, suicide, rape, and descent into madness all ensue.”

This sort of propaganda has been around for many years and one of the most interesting finds I have made is the following piece from a 1936 article in the American magazine, Popular Science, titled “Uncle Sam fights a new menace – cannabis”. It really is an amazing historical piece. Here are a few highlights:

“Continued use of the drug, for example, will lead to a delirious rage in which the addicts are temporarily irresponsible and inclined to commit the most horrible and violent crimes. Any increase in crime in a community usually is attributed by authorities to marijuana. Many murders are committed either by persons not responsible while under the influence of the drug, or by persons who deliberately smoke it to gain a false courage for the commission of a planned slaying.

“The dangers to which addicts are exposed and to which they expose others are shown in some of the terms associated with Indian hemp. In Malay, where it is eaten as hashish, the murderous frenzy in which the native dashes with a weapon into a crowd screaming: “Amokl Amokl” (Kill! Kill!) is due to the drug, according to some travellers.

“It has been said that the followers of Pancho Villa, the Mexican bandit, derived their reckless courage from smoking marijuana, and that most of their outrages were committed under its influence.”

Now without doubt, cannabis is not harmless. It has a range of risks and, for some people, it is particularly problematic. However, according to this piece, you can literally blame all of the world’s problems on the drug, particularly violent crime. It would be wonderful if we could say that the days of such propaganda had gone, that we now live in a world where the information available to the general community was based on good evidence. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case.

Drug use is an emotive issue. Many people have extremely strong views and are keen to express them, for a range of reasons. If you were to take the first paragraph of the article provided, it would be easy to remove the word “marijuana” and replace it with “ice”, drop it into any tabloid paper around the country and have no-one even question it. Don’t get me wrong – methamphetamine is a significant issue, particularly within the gay and lesbian community, and it needs to be addressed. However, we are getting perilously close to another Reefer Madness scenario and that is going to lead to real problems with how the message is accepted by current and, most importantly, potential users of the drug.

Remember: if you do not want any negative consequences, do not use the drug and, no matter how many times you have used a substance, never be blasé.