Monday, April 13, 2009

Reefer Madness And The Reefer Man



I just watched a show on Sundance Channel called "Grass." I couldn't resist writing a post. When it got to the 1960's era, I was about ready to jump off the couch,slit my jeans and make bell bottoms out of them and yell, "Hell No We Won't Go!"
It was a tremendous show. So, I did a search for the term "reefer." I found out that it is a slang term for marijuana. Duhh...
But, it came from a movie called Reefer Madness which came out in the 1930's. This anti cannabis propaganda film played a key role in scaring the public to make marijuana illegal.
The movie was about a man who smokes the stuff and goes insane killing his whole family. Interestingly enough, the producers tried to make a quick buck, but violated the motion picture code of the 1930's. The code forbid the portrayal of immoral acts like drug use.
I also found a few quotes of interest:
~Ronald Reagan 1974: "Permanent brain damage is one of the inevitable results of the use of marijuana."
~White House Drug Czar, Carlton Turner: "Marijuana leads to homosexuality and therefore aids."
~President Candidate Bill Clinton: "I don't inhale."
There you have it, a few personal opinions about a plant the grows on the planet which has the capabilities of curing some diseases and by making it legal, raise the economy. That's just my opinion.
So, in closing I dug up this very cool video of Cab Calloway singing, "The Reefer Man." Enjoy!


1 comment:

Drew G said...

I saw this show too -- a while back it was great. I loved it. I really dig your blog but I don't know the answers to any of your trivia. I also wanted to say the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still was awful. Long live the original.

I also work with Eden Fantasys so if you ever feel like letting your wild side show I would love to work with you. Email me anytime.
drewg at webmerchantsinc dot com