Directed by Louis J. Gasnier, produced by George Hirliman, and featuring a screenplay by Arthur Hoerl, the melodramatic film “Reefer Madness” was initially released in 1936. It was supposedly shot in three weeks. The film was inspired by an actual case, in which a psychopath named Victor Licata killed his entire family while allegedly under the influence of pot (later he was determined to be schizophrenic). Here, the plot centers around a group of drug dealers who entrap innocent teenagers and lead them down the fatal path of addiction, with hot jazz parties as the bait and “reefer” cigarettes used as the gateway drug. Financed by a church group, the movie (originally titled “Tell Your Children”) was of course planned as a morality tale and, essentially, as a scare film that would educate naive parents about the dangers of cannabis use and the hazards of drug dependence. Due to its low budget, reliance on a weak plot and amateur actors, and a host of other flaws, the film was both a critical and box office failure. However, it later achieved cult status and a form of redemption, financial and otherwise. A critical moment in the story occurred when all rights to “Tell Your Children” were purchased by producer Dwain Esper, who specialized in releasing films on the so-called exploitation circuit. Esper, whose previous credits included the short “How to Undress in Front of Your Husband” and “Maniac” aka “Sex Maniac”, recut the film to emphasize its tawdry aspects and released and re-released it as “Reefer Madness”, “Doped Youth” and “The Burning Question”. The film proved to be a hit and had a long run, although Esper did not bother to protect the film’s copyright. Decades later, the film was widely shown as a fundraiser for an organization promoting marijuana legalization and as a midnight movie. It eventually became regarded as one of the worst films ever made, or at least as the first or earliest film to ever have the distinction of enjoying a fan base because it was so awful.

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