Some things I liked some I did not.

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Not badly made for a low budget film of 1936. This is not propaganda, as others have termed it, but it actually has a plot and even a bit of a twist. Somewhat "shocking" for a film of this era, it has sex, nudity, unwanted pregnancy, and alcohol/drug abuse. Interestingly, this film is not about substance abuse in the ghetto but in more affluent households.The plot follows a purported teenager (although she is the oldest looking teenager I have ever seen in film) as she progresses from drinking to marijuana use, to heroin use. The symptoms of narcotic use are either exaggerated or ignored (with marijuana use people giggle non-stop while with heroin use there is no depressant effect) but the process of progressing from alcohol and marijuana to serious drug use and even drug dealing is accurate to this day.Contrary to the title, don't expect it to be about marijuana, but about drug use in general and you will enjoy it.

I know some of you may hate this movie because it is so badly made. Or because the theme is so strikingly nonsensical. But believe me, it is a real hoot. It's a mid '30s version of "Just say no". It's fantastic in its ignorance.Back in the '70's I could still buy a five finger dime bag full of seeds and stems. The lid was horrid "paraquat weed", but you could still get it for ten bucks. This movie takes it back a whole new way. Absolute nonsense front to back, this baby has a big new meaning today. It's a laugh riot. Guaranteed to make you giggle, provided you're high on weed (yes, I see the irony).The Cheesedick that made this monster obviously never smoked any weed himself, or he'd have known better than to produce this dreck of a movie. It's funny as hell though, seen through modern eyes.Watch it under the influence of some "giggle water", or "giggle weed". Trust me, it's great.

This is a bad movie that purports to be an educational film designed to warn America about the menace of marijuana use. However, like almost all the so-called "educational" films of the 30s and 40s, it was really a shabby little film designed to be snuck past the censors of the Hays Office. In 1934, the major studios all agreed to abide by the dictates of a stronger Production Code--eliminating sex, nudity, cursing and "inappropriate" plots in films (these had actually been relatively common in films in the early 30s). However, in an effort to sneak in smut, small studios created films to shock adults when they learn about terrible social ills, though they were REALLY intended to titillate and slip adult themes past the censors! Such films as CHILD BRIDE, MAD YOUTH, REEFER MADNESS and SEX MADNESS were all schlocky trash that skirted past the boards because they were supposedly educational. Even though they were laughably bad, they also made money due to low production costs and because they offered nudity, violence and sordid story lines--all in the name of education! Many will no doubt watch this film because they are hoping for a similar film to REEFER MADNESS (one of the most laughably bad anti-drug films of all time). While it isn't quite as dopey and unintentionally funny, MARIJUANA is probably a worse film when it comes to being exploitational all in the name of educating our parents. While on drugs, the characters don't madly play the piano or run amok quite as much as they do in REEFER MADNESS--but they DO run amok in the most ridiculous manner. Once they begin puffing this "wacky tobacky", all the characters begin laughing non-stop and acting like total idiots. In addition, the ladies respond by taking off all their clothes and running nude along the beach at night!! And, because of this, the film is very, very explicit--showing lots of "naughty bits" (A Monty Python term for nudity). This film would probably receive an R-rating today if shown in the theaters because of the nudity--and this must have been VERY shocking to audiences of the day. However, audiences today would also be a bit shocked at how extremely unattractive and unappealing these ladies were--I kept wanting to yell at the characters to "put it back on--PLEASE!!". If you are looking for a cheap thrill, this film won't provide it! Now when they aren't showing people running amok, the film actually is much more watchable. Those who sell the drugs are indeed users, but they manage not to behave like morons, so they are more convincing. The story of one of them, Blondie, is somewhat compelling and mildly interesting--though not nearly enough to make up for the rottenness of the rest of the movie.This film is so bad that I would recommend it for a bad movie festival you can stage with your friends. You know, the ones where you laugh at just how bad and stupid films can be. They didn't even bother trying to get decent music for much of the film--using classical tunes that were completely inappropriate just because they were in the public domain.

Dwain Esper, the man who makes Ed Wood look like Orson Wells, came out with this movie around 1935 or so. (Judging by the clothing, I'd say it was filmed about a year earlier.) Films like this were made perporting to show the evils of the world but instead showcased rough acting, stilted writing, sparce sets, bad lighting, static camerawork and starlets lifting their skirts and disrobing in doctors offices. More money was spent and more creative energy invested into hyping the films when they played in rural towns with a public eager to see any film that would show them skin and insanity to take the edge off their boring lives.Harlene Wood gives an uneaven proformance as Burma Roberts, the central character. The other actors, all complete unknowns both then and now, lend even worse acting to their roles as cops, drug addicts, gangsters and teenage girls who look like thirty-five-year-old stag film actresses. The script is also badly written, clearly having been scratched out in a few days time. There are some interesting sets, like the interior of the villains cabin with the stone fireplace and balcony, and some nice camera set-ups, but the filmmakers' megre budget and lack of technical ability is pretty easily discernable throughout.Personally, I like this film. It's amusing, fairly inventive at times (that scene with the drunk spilling his beer at the beginning), and the scene with the girls stripping down and running around on the beach is still hard to beleave (it's certainly not arousing in the least bit, though). Overall, it's a better film than Tell Your Children (1938), more enjoyable and way more misguided.