Drug Addiction (1951)

This 50s Encyclopedia Britannica anti-drug film is about as campy as I've ever seen EB get. It tells the story of Marty, a nice, clean-cut 50s teen who succumbs to peer pressure and tries reefers. Before you know it, he's a junkie mainlining heroin, and then experiences the inevitable downward spiral of losing his part-time job at the grocery store, worrying his parents, getting snubbed by all the other clean-cut teens, turning to shoplifting and thievery to support his habit, and finally becoming a drug pusher. (You know who the street pushers are because they're the ones wearing turtlenecks, like all street pushers, amirite?) Eventually he gets arrested for all of this and, after his mother tearfully tells the judge that he's a "good boy," gets court-ordered into substance abuse treatment. But after he gets out of rehab, all the nice teens still shun him and he has to contend with pressure from his old junkie pals to start using again.

This well-worn story is told in an incredibly dorky and hyperbolic fashion--highlights include Marty's friends getting sick when they first smoke marijuana (Marty also feels sick but hides it--the sign of a true addict-in-the-making), Marty and his friends drinking Pepsi from broken bottles while in a hopped-up state, Marty's mother trying to talk to her surly son about her worries about him, and the post-rehab Marty trying to resist the pressure of his old junkie pal, Duke, to start using again. As in all drug films, the marijuana sequences are the most entertaining. "Thoughtless curiosity can lead to a lifetime of pain and torment!" For those who like to laugh at anti-drug films, this one is a classic.

Producer: Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, Inc.
Sponsor: Juvenile Protection Association of Chicago (The) and The Wieboldt Foundation

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• 1951
• social guidance
• anti-drug film
• campy

[shananagans5]

@cellardoor199991 Thats great. Thanks for sharing.

[cellardoor199991]

@shananagans5 (Cont'd) I also learned that there is no excuse for that shit and my dad should have used the military's FREE facilities to correct himself and he didn't because he's a brain dead moron. I spent lots of time with the Navy Chaplan(priest/psychiatrist) and psych. classes. I finally broke the cycle of men being stupid/institutionalized because of the military in my family. I couldn't be more proud of myself!

[cellardoor199991]

@shananagans5 That's a bingo! That's why I experimented w/ drugs in the first place when I was 16. My parents didn't do shit except watch TV, Argue non-stop, my father beat my mom and my oldest brother. I ended up spending lots of time w/ my friends families and learning from their parents. I graduated school, enlisted in the Navy for 4 yrs., and I'm about to get my college degree. I learned that my dad became institutionalized and let the military brainwash him like a fucking idiot!

[shananagans5]

@SuperGreenbacon No, they didn't say it causes overdose death. They also greatly exaggerated some of the stupid things people do when smoking pot. What they really should have shown is the kid that grows up neglected and in poverty because their parents never get off their butt and do something productive.

[SuperGreenbacon]

Notice how they did NOT say that Marijuana overdose causes death. They knew this shit in the 50's

[Intoactionrehab]

A classic film about drug addiction. This is a good post.

[IceManLikeGervin]

I love watching these old propaganda films.

[jennicase]

haha his mouth was bleeding! that must have been some bad weed

[felson99]

Hey, Martin the heroin addict is the same guy from the MST3K "Are you ready for Marriage" Glad to see he kicked the habit, and went on to being married!!!

[corvus13]

Why do all of the parents in these 50s films have foreign accents?