TV: CBS Special on Teenage Marijuana Use

Feb. 25, 1965 - How do teenagers get their “kicks?”

Some try glue-sniffing. Others go for pep pills and goofballs. Television viewers who don’t smoke anything stronger than filter-tip cigarettes will have an opportunity to see next month a teenager “pot” or marijuana party. 

Jack Landau, a producer for WCBS-TV, completed his filming today for an hourlong documentary on addiction among teenagers. His program will attempt to show the traffic in marijuana that goes on at schools and colleges.

“Most of the action was filmed in the New York metropolitan area and at some nearby suburbs,” Landau said. “However, we will not identify the colleges. Addiction and pre-addiction are becoming quite alarming, particularly since the problem is no longer confined to the slums or the low-income bracket. ‘Nice’ kids are now involved.”

The documentary will cover the various ways of getting high, from inhaling nail polish to the injection of heroin. It will also feature a group therapy session, if Landau can delete overly colorful teenage phrases from the soundtrack.

“Addiction seems to have made its way into the teenage world,” Landau added. “We want to find out exactly what damage is being done.”For the last two weeks, WCBS-TV has been running brief interviews with teenagers and their parents on the addiction problem.

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