The history of marijuana use in American cinema probably started with the 1936 propaganda film Reefer Madness. If you’re unfamiliar with the film, it basically centered around a bunch of high school students who try marijuana for the first time after benign encouraged by a group of low-level drug dealers. As the students take their first puffs, a series of absolutely outrageous events occur. The students begin to commit crimes like hit and runs and even murders. They start having intense hallucinations. One student even throws themself out the window of an apartment building.
Now, anyone who has ever used cannabis knows that these are not the real effects of the substance. You’re more likely to murder an entire box of Cheez-Its than another human being when you’re stoned. Thus, Reefer Madness became an unintentional comedy and an iconic moment in cinematic history for the stoner community. But, it wasn’t until the 1970s that the first film intentionally glorifying marijuana took to the silver screen. And the duo Cheech & Chong soon became synonymous with weed culture.
Then, from 2000 to 2010, High Times magazine sponsored the Stony Awards, which were devoted to honoring the best stoner films and television. This was truly a testament to how far the “stoner movie” genre had come over the last century. So, let’s look back through the history of this beloved genre and honor the 6 most iconic and best stoner movies of all time. Get your doobies ready, man.
1. Up in Smoke
As mentioned, the iconic duo Cheech & Chong were really responsible for bringing the stoner subculture into mainstream media with their 1978 comedy Up in Smoke. Cheech & Chong had been a comedy team for about 10 years before the film ever came out. But, with the help of director Lou Adler, the duo was able to bring theory unique brand of marijuana-induced humor to the big screen.
The whole film follows Cheech & Chong as they unknowingly smuggle a van (which is made entirely out of marijuana from Mexico back to Los Angeles. All the while, a cop named Sargeant Stedenko is trying to lock them up. Luckily for our stoner protagonists, Stedenko is a complete moron. Don’t expect any high-brow humor or jokes you can tell at the dinner table from Up in Smoke. This film is just a long stretch of drug puns, toilet humor, and simply strange antics from Cheech & Chong. But, if you have a jay burning while you watch it, Up in Smoke will definitely not disappoint.
2. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
The 2004 buddy stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle is an obvious homage to Cheech & Chong and follows an incredibly similar framework. The film follows a duo of stoners who embark on an Odysseyan journey (to go to White Castle, a fast food restaurant) but run into a series of absurd obstacles along the way. Harold Lee, one half of the duo, is a Korean-American investment banker who gets bullied into doing his colleague’s work all weekend, and Kumar Patel, the other half, is a highly intelligent Indian-American man who’s doing everything he can to avoid going to medical school (despite his parents’ wishes).
This film is so wonderfully random that it’ll keep you guessing at every moment and scramble your blazed cranium. There’s a long cameo from Neil Patrick Harris where he steals a car while high on ecstasy. There’s a guy named Freakshow who tries to get Harold & Kumar to have sex with his wife. The whole thing is confusing, random, and amazing.
3. Half Baked
The 1998 stoner comedy Half Baked comes from the mind of yet another stoner icon: Dave Chappelle. This film was written by Chappelle alongside his longtime partner Neal Brennan, who he worked with to create Chappelle’s Show. This film follows four lifelong friends (and big-time stoners) who all live together in an apartment in New York City. Everything is going fine until one of the friends, named Kenny, accidentally feeds junk food to a diabetic police horse and kills it. Then, the other friends are forced to raise $1 million to bail Kenny out of jail before something terrible happens to him.
Their need for cash forces the friends to start selling marijuana stolen from a medical lab. Unfortunately, their illegal business catches the attention of a rival drug dealer, and the friends find themselves in serious trouble. This film is every bit as ridiculous as you’d imagine a stoner movie starring Dave Chappelle would be.
4. How High
One of the most ingenious stoner movies of all time comes from the world-famous hip-hop duo Method Man and Redman. The 2001 film How High follows main characters Jamal and Silas as they’re visited by the ghost of their dead friend after mixing his ashes with cannabis and smoking him. Their ghostly friend, who is a genius, helps them get extremely high scores on their exams, eventually gaining them admission into Harvard University.
Once at Harvard, Silas starts courting Lauren, the girlfriend of the captain of the Harvard rowing team. Lauren is also the daughter of one of the university’s deans. Silas and Jamal quickly make enemies within the university who conspire to get them kicked out. On top of that, they smoke all of their friend’s ashes and so must find another way to pass their Harvard exams. How High is absolutely hilarious all the way through, and, of course, it has an amazing soundtrack, most of which was recorded by Method Man & Redman themselves.
5. Pineapple Express
The 2008 stoner comedy Pineapple Express elevated co-stars Seth Rogen and James Franco into the Stoner Hall of Fame. Rogen had previously worked with Judd Apatow (the film’s producer) on Superbad and Knocked Up. However, for Pineapple Express, they decided to make Rogen the star of this in-your-face film all about weed. This movie actually became so popular among stoners that there’s a real-life weed strain called Pineapple Express.
The movie follows Dale Denton, a process server and major stoner who’s dating an 18-year-old high school senior. However, everything changes for Denton when he accidentally witnesses a murder. As a result, he and his drug dealer Saul have to expose police corruption while avoiding getting killed.
6. The Big Lebowski
The 1998 film The Big Lebowski is one of the most beloved cult classics ever made. This film stars Jeff Bridges, a man named Lebowski who’s known by his friends simply as The Dude. The Dude spends his days bowling, smoking doobies, drinking White Russians, and having “the occasional acid flashback.” However, his peaceful mode of life is interrupted when he gets mistaken for a millionaire with the same name who owes a debt to some dangerous people.
As a result, The Dude’s rug is stolen, which is a shame because it “really tied the room together.” The rest of the film follows The Dude and his friends Donny and Walter as they try to get his rug back. Unfortunately, things get extremely complicated when the millionaire Lebowski starts demanding favors from The Dude, a group of nihilists gets involved, and The Dude has to confront Lebowski’s crazy daughter. And on top of all that, he has to stay focused on his bowling league.
Great list!