ABSTRACT
Practically from the beginning, film-makers have produced drug-themed movies. In all likelihood, Chinese Opium Den, released in 1894, was the first motion picture about drug abuse made anywhere. The acceptance of cannabis use in movies came about only fairly recently. The hysteria that weed generated in the 1930s seems almost inconceivable today. The Reefer Madness story is remarkable in that society’s message as regards the threat of marijuana use has taken a very different turn over the years. Easy Rider would seem to offer an ideal and obvious candidate of a motion picture that portrays drug use as a form of deviant behavior. During the 1960s in the United States, the crime rate began to climb, and by the 1970s, it had reached unprecedented levels. Illicit drug use rose in tandem with crime. In the inner cities, heroin addiction increased alarmingly.
