Mae Coleman and Jack Perry are pot dealers. They regularly have parties at their apartment playing jazz on the piano and smoking pot. In addition to selling to adults they invite teenagers from the local schools to participate in these get-togethers. Two of their recruiters are Ralph Wiley and Blanche. Bill Harper and Jimmy Lane are two of the students that are enticed up to Mae’s apartment.
When Jack runs out of pot, he has Jimmy take him to his supplier. Jimmy is using his sister Mary’s car. While Jack is getting more pot Jimmy is in the car smoking a joint. When they leave Jimmy is high and begins speeding and driving recklessly. He goes through a stop light and hits a pedestrian. Later Jack tells Jimmy that the man died. He tells Jimmy that he won’t tell the police if Jimmy forgets he was ever at Mae’s apartment. The police have only a partial plate for the hit and run. They go to Mary to ask about her car. She tells them she had the car all day when the hit and run happened. Suspicious she goes looking for Jimmy and finds out he had gone to Mae’s.
When Bill starts hanging out at Mae’s and getting stoned his grades begin to suffer. Bill is Mary’s boyfriend, but he gets stoned with Blanche, and they have sex. In the meantime, Mary ends up at Mae’s looking for her brother Jimmy. Ralph, who has the hots for Mary gives her a joint. Thinking it is a cigarette she smokes it and starts laughing. Ralph tries to rape her. Bill comes out of the bedroom and sees Mary and Ralph. Hallucinating he thinks that Mary is stripping for Ralph. He attacks Ralph. Jack knocks Bill out with the butt of his gun and accidentally shoots Mary. Jack puts the gun in Bill’s hand and tells him he shot Mary. Bill is arrested for murder.
“Reefer Madness” was released in 1936 1938 or 1939 and was directed by Louis J. Gasnier. It is a propaganda film with quite a bit of controversy around it.
Some say it was produced by a church group that was inspired by the Florida Victor Licata case where Victor killed his parents, brothers and sister with an axe while under the influence of pot. (Victor was actually found to be a schizophrenic with homicidal tendencies.) Even though the pot wasn’t responsible the case was used to pass the federal Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 that outlawed legal sale of pot.
Another controversy came when Dwain Esper sued the distribution company claiming he produced the film for the US Army. (Dwain Esper is the slimy film producer that brought such crap as “Maniac” 1934, “Sex Madness” 1938, and “How to Undress In Front of Your Husband” 1937.) Esper released it on the exploitation circuit. As an ‘educational’ film it could get away with more salacious stuff and not worry about the Hays Production Code.
There is also a question concerning the original title of the movie. Supposedly it was called “Tell Your Children” and produced by George Hirliman. Then it was sold to various distributors that used their own names. One of the distributors was supposedly the aforementioned Esper. Even the release date is at issue.
In 1972 the founder of NORML showed it as a fund raiser on college campuses. He asked $1 donation for admission to see the film and raised $16,000 towards the support for the California Marijuana Initiative. The Initiative is a political group that sought to legalize pot.
The cult influence has spawned a stage version in 1992, a musical in 1998, a TV movie in 2005 and a colorized version in 2004 where the pot smoke is in different colors.
As for the pros and cons of pot in general there is misinformation on both sides, and everybody’s got their own beliefs. What I say ain’t gonna matter. As for the movie, people who smoke pot do not magically turn into rapists or homicidal maniacs. Not unless they already are a rapist or homicidal maniac. It’s more likely they will sit around eating chips and contemplating nothing. I knew a guy who always ate marshmallows when he got stoned. He just liked the way they felt in his mouth.
Black and white version
Colorized version (Spanish sub)