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Last night the missus and I watched Easy Street, and she remarked—as many have—that there certainly seem to be a lot of drug references in silent movies, both comedy and drama. We talked about it, and eventually it occurred to us that every example we could think of depicted powdery substances, usually unidentified (the major exception being Mystery of the Leaping Fish), but implicitly cocaine or heroin, never marijuana. We recalled a few pot references in Pre-Codes, such as Jewel Robbery, or the musical numbers in International House and Murder at the Vanities, but couldn’t think of a single silent film with a definite, unmistakable marijuana moment.

Can anybody think of one? There have been several threads here about substance abuse over the years, and I’ve taken a fresh look at them, but can’t find an answer to my question. And by the way, I’m talking about mainstream Hollywood (or European) movies made for entertainment purposes, not exploitation or “educational” films.

My impression is that marijuana as a smokable substance didn't register culturally until the southwestern states were really developed starting in the first couple of decades of the 20th century and its use by Mexican workers became known. I consulted the oracle Wikipedia (an interesting piece on marijuana's legal history) and it appears that cannabis, like opiates, was mainly considered in terms of a tincture-- that is, dissolved in alcohol-- until the 20s when the idea of smoking it became generally known, and outlawed. So examples much before then would be very rare, and possibly bewildering to audiences. Opiates such as cocaine, laudanum (tincture of opium) and even heroin (a brand name of Bayer at that point) were generally, and for much of that time even legally, available and thus worked in the shorthand of silent movies.

That said, when I saw Reefer Madness in the 80s at a midnight show, there was some silent cowboy short that included cowboys smoking loco-weed. They called it "High on the Range" but I'm sure that wasn't its real title (as Reefer Madness isn't the original title of The Burning Question, either) and I have no idea what this film actually was. Here's a quote from some book:

As use of marijuana spread from Mexico into the United States during the 1920s, it began to appear in movies made or set in the West such as The Cloud Rider (1925) and High on the Range (1929).

So a little in western settings beginning in the mid-20s, I guess.

P.S. Looks like this is the original High on the Range.

This is from Variety of 18 December 1929. The oldest reference I could find was 1926. Interesting to see that it was referred to as 'weed' as far back as then. Harry Potter fans note - another article says it was known as 'Muggle'!

JAZZ— DESTROYER OF YOUTH

THE PACE THAT KILLS (1928)- unusual in that Cocaine is shown as a gateway drug to Marihuana.

Does anyone out there have HIGH ON THE RANGE? It certainly looks amusing, from the snippet on YT...

earlytalkiebuffRob wrote:Does anyone out there have HIGH ON THE RANGE? It certainly looks amusing, from the snippet on YT...

Could that be the total length? It seems like a good edit, covers beginning to end of a plot perfectly.

Maybe that would win the shortest silent movie award.

HIGH ON THE RANGE is featured as an extra on this DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000051S5Y/

If doing word searches, you need to also try alternate spellings. For example, from Capt. Billy's Whiz Bang, Feb. 1921:
https://archive.org/stream/WhizBangFeb2 ... 3/mode/1up

For now I'm down and out,
And broken is my will,
I'd sell my very clothes
For a marewanna pill...

Spiny Norman wrote:

Just say Moe.

Thanks all, for the interesting and informative responses thus far! (and for the Stooge-related chuckle.)