Weird Orgies, Wild Parties, Unleashed Passions

Before gummies... they used big needles

Marihuana - Weed With Roots in Hell! is a 1936 American exploitation film directed by Dwain Esper and written by his wife Hildagarde Stadie. It is one of the most notorious examples of the “reefer madness” genre, which depicted the supposed dangers of marijuana use. The film tells the story of a group of teenagers who experiment with marijuana and suffer from various consequences, such as pregnancy, drug trafficking, murder, and insanity.

Here’s the trailer

You can watch the entire film below. But before you do, you might want to read a “film review” by acclaimed American poet Elizabeth Bishop. She details a 1938 Key West, Florida screening of Marihuana:

"We have settled down to the summer session of banned movies — I went to 'Marihuana' last night. Several thousand Negroes, Cubans, and I, fought our way in, and then we were all very disappointed—even the two thrills of the pre-view were not repeated, and the whole production was staged in what looked like a dentist's office (the 'lavish apartment of a dope-fiend').

The poor, wrecked 'high-school set' were all Hollywood matrons of at least 40, and at one point the corrupted darlings went for a nude swim—you saw little white specks way, way out in the ocean, then 'What's going on here?' and the bedraggled matrons were shown covering themselves with blankets, etc. Even from descriptions of marihuana, I thought there’d be some slow-motion work, at least."

Some background on the marijuana laws of the era

In 1932, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was established under the direction of Harry J. Anslinger. He proceeded to stir the public into an anti-marijuana frenzy, perpetuating the myth that users of the drug had embarked upon an irreversible descent into an underworld of crime and loose living.

In his lectures Anslinger explained that marijuana use was the root cause of crime and unemployment in poor areas; for good measure, he also blamed the immigrant and working-class population for introducing the drug into these neighborhoods.

No evidence was produced to support such claims, yet this did not stop Anslinger's ideas from attaining the status of revealed truth.

In the mid-1930's, the American Journal Of Medicine pronounced that "Marijuana users...will kill or maim without reason." The only significant challenge to such wild statements was made by the mayor of New York, who ordered an independent and impartial investigation into the effects of the 'weed with roots in hell'.

When it became clear that the investigators had concluded that marijuana had none of the alleged mind-altering and crime-causing effects, Anslinger quickly destroyed all known copies of the report, preventing its publication.

Exploitation filmmakers have always been quick to seize upon contemporary scandals and scare stories, and the 1930's saw a massive upsurge of films dealing with the 'tragedy' of marijuana.

Marihuana: Weed With Roots In Hell, is a perfect example of the sensationalist and absurd propaganda produced in the effort to stop people using the drug. Source

Ad for the Acme Theater in Riverton, Wyoming showing "Marihuana" on November 2, 1936 ~ Source

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