In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (movie, not book), Duke and Gonzo occasionally indulge in a drug which is broken open and then inhaled. Any ideas/guesses what it is? My guess is pills, but why snort pills?
I believe (from the book) that they were amyls. They snorted it because snorting works faster than ingestion. You did say movie and not book… but in the book they broke open amyls and snorted them at several points.
Ether is my guess. But then I don’t know if amyl nitrate is a solid, liquid, or gas. From the book:
For other use/misuse of ether, see The Cider House Rules.
Black market Prozac is becoming popular: open the capsule and snort the powder. Supposedly, it gives a high similar to cocaine. The capsules are whitish-beige on one end and medium-green on the other.
Warning to the intellectually impaired: don’t try this at home.
The items in question were Amyl Nitrate cylanders. A short-term euphoric, kind of like nitrus oxide with a stimulent effect too.
HST wrote a whole article about the days when they were available as an over-the-counter athsma aid and how he’d crack the cylanders open like nuts, ingesting the drug-soaked wad of cotton inside with his morning coffee.
Slight correction - yes, amyl nitrate ampules were what the OP is referring to in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”. They were originally intended as a treatment for angina.
The OTC asthma aid you are referring to with the soaked cotton wad is a benzedrine inhaler. Yes, they used to be heavily abused as well, which is why they quite allowing the drug OTC.
Pills are broken up and snorted all the time.
I tried snorting No-Doz before a test, but it was a horrifying experience. I don’t recommend it.