Gateway Drug & Marijuana Propaganda: Drug Addiction (1951)

Drug Addiction is a scare tactics video which attempts to illustrate the dangers of marijuana as a gateway drug for callow youths such as the main character, Marty, who we see spiral down from one hit of reefer to heroin and jail time. Slippery slope arguments follow a litany on the dangers of marijuana and the bad side effects of marijuana. Featuring great shots of Chicago’s Juvenile Protection Association, this film captures stoners and drug addicts drinking from broken Pepsi bottles, buying drugs on the street, stealing from family members, and sitting in court for their crimes. Marty is eventually jailed, then rehabbed and reformed to his previous “good boy” status through hard physical labor and playing checkers with his fellow ex-addicts. This retro movie that contains hilariously dated marijuana facts and opinions on smoking weed. The physical effects of marijuana particularly emphasized.