KJZZ is a service of Rio Salado College,
and Maricopa Community Colleges

Copyright © 2025 KJZZ/Rio Salado College/MCCCD
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Scottsdale Community Players Perform Comedy 'Reefer Madness'

The 1936 film “Reefer Madness" is a black and white flick that paints marijuana as a drug that’s as dangerous as heroin and cocaine, and that promises a “hysterical downward spiral filled with evil jazz music, sex and violence” as a result of smoking marijuana.

Now the cult classic has been adapted for the stage as a musical.

The Scottsdale Community Players will be taking a satirical jab at the movie that portrays clean-cut kids being lured into the “evils” of marijuana.

Of course, the propaganda surrounding cannabis use has proven specious over the years, as evidenced by the fact that recreational marijuana is now legal in Arizona. Also, that no one has called it “reefer” since the Eisenhower administration.

“Reefer Madness” opens July 23 at the Stagebrush Theatre.

More Stories From KJZZ

Lauren Gilger, host of KJZZ's The Show, is an award-winning journalist whose work has impacted communities large and small, exposing injustices and giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized.