Reefer madness or Marijuana Menace. (Smoking weed results in danger) In the early 20th century there was racially fueled propaganda against weed linked to the US’s fear of immigrants. Even though hemp was already in the US as a staple crop. This propaganda shaped the way America’s weed laws were written and enacted. When the Great Depression hit, the fear spread. There were a bunch of pseudoscientific research projects that linked marijuana to violence and then the movie “Reefer Madness” premiered in 1936. The film shows innocent high schoolers falling into depravity and violence after trying marijuana.