![[Marijuana] [Film & Theatre] "Reefer Madness" - Reproduction Poster](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/Screen_Shot_2021-08-30_at_4.49.59_PM.png?v=1722190068)
[Marijuana] [Film & Theatre]. "Reefer Madness" - Reproduction Poster.
"This 1936 movie reflected a real drug panic sweeping America. The year after its release, the federal government enacted the first-ever tax on marijuana, representing the first of many subsequent laws cracking down on the drug and anyone associated with it. Reefer Madness, with its lurid story of impressionable white teenagers driven to death and destruction, was very much of the moment. As the years wore on, its relevance waned, and the copyright expired, releasing the film into the public domain. Its meaning shifted dramatically in 1972, when Kenneth Stroup, the leader of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), stumbled upon the movie in the Library of Congress. Stroup purchased a print for a generous sum, and shortly after began screening it on college campuses throughout the United States. The watch parties functioned as fundraisers for his campaign to legalize marijuana, and they were a hit. Reefer Madness was not only reclaimed by the legalization movement, but recast as a beloved cult comedy." (Marijuana Panic Won't Die, but Reefer Madness Will Live Forever, jstor.org)
Amusing vintage movie poster produced in 1972, likely to advertise a special screening of the campy 1936 exploitation film about the dangers of smoking marijuana. Printed primarily in a bold red, the poster features the tagline "Women cry for it – Men die for it!" above an oversized joint bearing the title of the film. The smoke rising from the lit end of the cigarette promises that the film is for "Adults Only!," and about "The Sweet 'Pill' that Makes Life Bitter!" Two illustrated figures with vampirically red eyes can be seen smoking in opposite corners of the print, one a looming man and the other a woman indulging in "drug-crazed abandon." Suffice it to say that to the contemporary eye, the text here is overwrought and reflective of a moral panic, but it is all the more entertaining for that. In fine condition. Sheet 16.5 x 21.5 inches (41.9 x 54.6 cm.); nicely matted and framed to an overall size of 22 x 27 inches (55.9 x 68.6 cm.).
[Marijuana] [Film & Theatre]. "Reefer Madness" - Reproduction Poster.
"This 1936 movie reflected a real drug panic sweeping America. The year after its release, the federal government enacted the first-ever tax on marijuana, representing the first of many subsequent laws cracking down on the drug and anyone associated with it. Reefer Madness, with its lurid story of impressionable white teenagers driven to death and destruction, was very much of the moment. As the years wore on, its relevance waned, and the copyright expired, releasing the film into the public domain. Its meaning shifted dramatically in 1972, when Kenneth Stroup, the leader of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), stumbled upon the movie in the Library of Congress. Stroup purchased a print for a generous sum, and shortly after began screening it on college campuses throughout the United States. The watch parties functioned as fundraisers for his campaign to legalize marijuana, and they were a hit. Reefer Madness was not only reclaimed by the legalization movement, but recast as a beloved cult comedy." (Marijuana Panic Won't Die, but Reefer Madness Will Live Forever, jstor.org)
Amusing vintage movie poster produced in 1972, likely to advertise a special screening of the campy 1936 exploitation film about the dangers of smoking marijuana. Printed primarily in a bold red, the poster features the tagline "Women cry for it – Men die for it!" above an oversized joint bearing the title of the film. The smoke rising from the lit end of the cigarette promises that the film is for "Adults Only!," and about "The Sweet 'Pill' that Makes Life Bitter!" Two illustrated figures with vampirically red eyes can be seen smoking in opposite corners of the print, one a looming man and the other a woman indulging in "drug-crazed abandon." Suffice it to say that to the contemporary eye, the text here is overwrought and reflective of a moral panic, but it is all the more entertaining for that. In fine condition. Sheet 16.5 x 21.5 inches (41.9 x 54.6 cm.); nicely matted and framed to an overall size of 22 x 27 inches (55.9 x 68.6 cm.).