Well… I’m not sure if this is a public service message or simply just me rambling on like I do… And this time, I’ll be rambling about a somewhat controversial subject. Whether you call it pot, weed, Mary Jane, reefer… what we’re talking about is Marijuana.

Marijuana, as people are finally learning, has a lot of amazing properties and uses. It clears up glaucoma, helps alleviate pain for cancer patients and can actually help, in some cases, to put it into remission. It helps those suffering from mental illnesses for whom big pharma chemicals do absolutely jack shit.

I’ve been an advocate for marijuana use since I was 17. I had figured out at 16 that the trouble afflicting me was bipolar disorder (which was called manic-depression then). When I was 17, I tried pot for the first time and it was a mind blowing experience, though not for the reason some of you think. I remember clearly one prevalent thought in my mind that afternoon: Is this what happy feels like…? Literally, until that day, I had no idea what happy felt like.

The reason for today’s post is because, for the umpteenth time, I watched the movie Reefer Madness last night. If you haven’t had the pleasure of watching this propaganda film that is more like the funniest fucking comedy you’ll ever see in today’s age, I’ll give you a quick rundown.

The film literally starts out as any other propaganda movie, giving you warning about the subject of offense, the deadly thing they’re trying to keep you safe from. From there, it begins the tale of a brother and sister. Nice, clean-cut, level headed teens of 1936. The brother gets involved with a reefer dealer and begins attending wild parties at the apartment he shares with his girl. Eventually, he invites his sister’s beau to join in the fun. Soon, both are hooked on reefer, the sister’s beau at one point getting so high he ends up fucking a girl he hardly knows, betraying his girl. He comes out of the bedroom and he finds his girl being pawed by one of the other patrons. But he sees it differently in his drug-addled state. He begins a fight with the patron, the man of the apartment comes out with a gun. He and the beau struggle, the gun goes off and kills the young man’s girl. He’s told he killed her, which he believes, and gets convicted at trial. However, the girl he slept with as well as the patron pawing the dead girl finally speak up and get him cleared. A semi-happy end…

So… let’s delve into why this is the funniest fucking propaganda film in the history of film.

First of all, you can tell that not one person who worked on this film had ever smoked pot or knew anyone who did. They had a twisted view of the effects of marijuana (which, supposedly, they spelled as they did in this burb because it was made before the invention of the letter J, which I find hard to believe). Okay, yeah, you may get one hell of a case of the giggles. But these people were laughing like maniacal maniacs. They smoked as is they we greedy, fiendish people. They danced wildly, played piano at top speed, hit people with their cars and took off without even thinking about it. They warn that people began laughing and acting wildly, hallucinated then became prone to violent, angry outbursts… and consequently ended up shooting and killing sweet, innocent young women. Now, I don’t know about the rest of you but, aside from the occasional fit of the giggles when something stupid struck me funny, I never had any of these other effects, especially killing people. Hell, I’m usually so fucked up I couldn’t swat a fly.

Marijuana actually got such a bad rap partly due to this jackass, Victor Licata. According to IMDB, the movie Reefer Madness (as well as a few others) were inspired by his story.

In the early 30s, Victor snapped the fuck out and killed his entire family by burying an axe into their heads. As he was a marijuana user, the media immediately jumped on the “Drugs are bad, m’kaaaay” bandwagon and deemed pot as more addictive and dangerous that heroine and cocaine. Um… yeah. I have serious doubts on that… In any case, that was what they blamed his killing spree on until he finally received a psychiatric evaluation that found he was schizophrenic. In fact, his brother and a few other family members were diagnosed with the same mental illness. But it didn’t seem to matter. The press made mention of this in subsequent articles, but the main focus of his issues were marijuana use. And this was why it was decided that marijuana had to be made highly illegal. So yeah, this is the guy you can blame for that…

I don’t know about you guys, but my experiences with pot were more like a Cheech and Chong movie rather than the propaganda movies. Otherwise known as fucked up and happy.

It took such a long time for people to realize that marijuana was more than just a way for people to get high and escape their troubles for a little while. Finally, scientists and researchers have realized that marijuana is actually a very effective all natural drug that can help people suffering from mental illness. Well shit, I could have told them that decades ago when I first started smoking it! Provided you get the right kind (some can exacerbate your issues), pot can help ease depression and anxiety, help with severe OCD… all without the need for chemicals that can cause annoying, serious or even life threatening side effects. Which would you prefer? Taking dangerous chemicals or a plant that’s all natural and still grows wild all over the world to this day?

And thus ends today’s public service message…

Listen, no matter what your views on marijuana use are, you have to admit that Reefer Madness is more an old comedy from 1936 and less the propaganda anti-marijuana film it was meant to be. I have no idea how it was viewed at the time, but I do know that today it’s one of the funniest fucking things you’ll ever see. So, if you want a good laugh, give it a watch. I know I do whenever I’m feeling a bit down and need to laugh my ass off.

And, with the US election coming up in a few days, who doesn’t need a good laugh? Between COVID-19 and the crazy ass election, we all could use a good laugh right about now. So stop reading this, go find that movie and give it a watch. As for me… I’m going to go back to working on some artistic endeavors, watch The Twilight Zone and enjoy this cold, windy Monday morning.