This summer in my town there was heroin.

For reals.

Heroin is not a joke. But Katherine Kersten of the Star Tribune is. Her column on Northfield’s heroin problem was uninformed, reactionary, and completely biased by her conservative beliefs. Kersten is a stereotype—a cartoon. Which is why I reacted to her piece with a few cartoons and stereotypes of my own. I made three posters lampooning the advertising for the 1936 “informational” film “Tell Your Children” (i.e. “Reefer Madness”), and posted them around town.

For those who don’t know, “Reefer Madness,” financed by a church group, warns of the dangers of marijuana (dangers such as manslaughter, rape and suicide). Though the church group’s intentions were pure, the film was bought up by a producer, Dwain Esper, who distributed it on the exploitation film circuit, where it was received by a rather different audience. Today, it’s a cult hit, and even inspired an off-Broadway musical of the same name.

I repeat: heroin is not a joke. It is absolutely more dangerous than “reefer,” and the consequences of becoming addicted to it can be very serious. But you know what’s also not a joke? Bad journalism. The heroin piece is just one of part of the large, embarrassing body of work that is Katherine Kersten’s. That’s my town she was talking about; I figured it was my civic duty to respond.

So: three posters. This one is based on work by Daniel Clowes. Clowes has a 1950’s retro style that I thought well-suited to Kersten’s outdated ideals.

For more on Kersten, go here.