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July 19, 2017

The Dangers of Marijuana: 13 Vintage Anti-Weed Film Posters From the ‘Reefer Madness’ Era

These vintage anti-marijuana posters were created in the 1930s as part of the Reefer Madness movie release. Originally conceived as a morality tale to warn parents against the dangers of cannabis, it was recut into an exploitation film, a lurid melodrama about a group of dope-smoking teens who descend into a hell of murder, suicide and madness brought on by the infernal herb.

Though Reefer Madness was the most famous anti-weed screed, it was soon followed by many imitators, including Assassin of Youth, where all-night marijuana parties lead to violence, and Marihuana, where an innocent girl winds up impregnated, addicted to heroin and planning a kidnapping, all because of a single puff.

Also referred to as the ‘Devil’s harvest’ or ‘Devil’s weed’, marijuana was considered a real threat before World War II. Instead, drugs like cocaine or heroin were largely tolerated and nobody talked about them.

A film lobby card, ‘El Tobaco Negro del Diablo’ from Argentina for a Spanish film about a respected surgeon, Pablo Urioste is forced to experience a nightmarish world after his wife, a marijuana addict, dies at a Buenos Aires nightclub, 1950. (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

A poster for the British release of Sam Newfield’s 1949 exploitation film, ‘The Devil’s Weed’, starring Lila Leeds. The film’s alternative titles are: ‘She Shoulda Said ‘No!’, ‘Marijuana, the Devil’s Weed’, and ‘The Story of Lila Leeds and Her Expose of the Marijuana Racket’. (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)

A poster for Elmer Clifton’s 1937 drama ‘Assassin of Youth’. (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)

A poster for Dwain Esper’s 1936 crime film ‘Marihuana’. (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)

A poster for Ray Test’s 1942 drama ‘Devil’s Harvest’. (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)

A poster advertising ‘Reefer Madness’, an anti-drugs exploitation film, dealing with the pitfalls of marijuana smoking, directed by Louis J. Gasnier, 1936. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A poster for the movie ‘Devil’s Harvest’, 1942. The film purports to tell the truth about marijuana, ‘the smoke of hell!’. (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)

Promotional poster for the film, ‘Devil’s Harvest,’ an exploitation film directed by Ray Test depicting the evils of smoking marijuana, 1942. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A poster advertising ‘Reefer Madness’, an anti-drugs exploitation film, dealing with the pitfalls of marijuana smoking, directed by Louis J. Gasnier, 1936. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A poster for Dwain Esper’s 1936 crime film ‘Marihuana’. (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)

A poster for Elmer Clifton’s 1937 drama ‘Assassin of Youth’ . (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)

A poster for Sam Newfield’s 1949 drama ‘Wild Weed’ starring Lila Leeds. (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)

A poster for Louis J. Gasnier’s 1938 drama ‘Reefer Madness’ (aka ‘The Burning Question’). (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)

(via Mashable/Retronaut)



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