# Drug use in movies. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172 "2007-08-02T19:31:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/1 "2007-08-02T19:31:33Z")
While watching the movie The Kids recently it was brought to my mind that I always wondering how they use some types of drugs in movies. Alcohol is easy enough to simulate. Herion can be simulated with baby powder, though i dont know how they snort it. But what do they use for weed? I know they could use tobacco but as far as actually showing it. For those not familer with the movie they show young kids rolling a joint then smokeing it. Do they actually use real weed? I am sure they dont smoke it but rolling it up looked like weed what else could they use? And what else did they use to have the kids smoke it since it coudlnt be tobacco because they are to young for that? Do studios get away with things like this because it is “art” ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/2 "2007-08-02T19:36:29Z")
Oregano has long been thought to look like weed. Perhaps they use oregano (just my WAG). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/3 "2007-08-02T19:39:00Z")
All you need is some plant that looks vaguely like marijuana when dried. It shouldn’t require a degree in Botany to get a couple of ounces of such a plant from some hippie herbal store. I seem to recall some instances of movies where the actors actually smoked real pot on camera. But that’s not a function of “getting away with it because it’s art”, is a function of “getting away with it because how are the cops going to prove it was real pot”. And even then it’s generally not a crime to smoke pot or to be high on pot, rather it is a crime to possess pot. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/4 "2007-08-02T19:41:37Z")
BTW: the snorting of white powdered drugs? Confectioner’s (powdered) sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/5 "2007-08-02T19:50:11Z")
[QUOTE=Tranquilis] BTW: the snorting of white powdered drugs? Confectioner’s (powdered) sugar. [/QUOTE] I heard somewhere that they snort vitamin B-12 powder. I thought that was odd. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/6 "2007-08-02T19:51:42Z")
B-12 powder? Possible, I suppose. Never heard of it, though. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/7 "2007-08-02T20:37:57Z")
The weed in question in the movie was actaully buds. Though that would be hard to fake ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/8 "2007-08-02T21:37:13Z")
According to the commentary track on Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke, they used “stunt dope”, that is, dried lettuce. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/9 "2007-08-02T21:47:34Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] I seem to recall some instances of movies where the actors actually smoked real pot on camera. [/QUOTE] Such as? ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/10 "2007-08-02T21:47:49Z")
I’ve always wondered about the snorting thing, too. They appear to actually snort the powder. Even if it is something other than cocaine, wouldn’t it hurt? I guess actors put themselves through worse for movies (cite Edward Norton), but still. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/11 "2007-08-02T22:27:20Z")
[QUOTE=Atomicktom] Such as? [/QUOTE] I seem to recall Dennis Hopper or some such claimed it during some interview, but I can’t say for sure. Anyway, while it might be possible that certain Hollywood Bad Boys have smoked real pot on camera as a lark, there’s no particular reason to do so. I’m not sure why the OP thinks a hunk of dried up herb would be so difficult to duplicate. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/12 "2007-08-03T01:29:12Z")
I thought I’d read that the fake cocaine was powdered milk. I remember an interview (look I’m old, I can’t provide a cite) where an actor talked about snorting the powdered milk and then later when his sinuses began to drain from the irritation having milk come out of his nose. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/13 "2007-08-03T08:57:23Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] And even then it’s generally not a crime to smoke pot or to be high on pot, rather it is a crime to possess pot. [/QUOTE] Er, how do you smoke pot without possessing pot? Or are you just saying that once you’ve smoked it you no longer possess it? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/14 "2007-08-03T15:04:49Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] I seem to recall Dennis Hopper or some such claimed it during some interview, but I can’t say for sure. [/QUOTE] Midnight Cowboy. I always thought that was an UL, though. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/15 "2007-08-03T15:06:01Z")
[QUOTE=ChrisBooth12] The weed in question in the movie was actaully buds. Though that would be hard to fake [/QUOTE] [http://www.herbal-smoking.com/](http://www.herbal-smoking.com/) Very easy to fake, actually. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/16 "2007-08-03T19:07:17Z")
[QUOTE=Atomicktom] Such as? [/QUOTE] Easy Rider. From [a site](http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=12378&pagename=PrinterFriendly&overrideheader=true&overridefooter=true) reviewing the DVD release and discussing the included “Shaking the Cage: The Making of Easy Rider”: > [@](#): > > This was always a great documentary, and it has stood up fairly well. Running for 65-minutes, it covers most areas you’d expect. It includes interviews with Hopper, Fonda, Lazlo Kovacs and Karen Black, among others. The absence of Jack Nicholson is a disappointment (but not unexpected), though the documentary makes up for this with some great insight and anecdotes. Most interesting, are the recollections of shooting the Mardis Gras footage, and the stories about smoking real pot and taking LSD are all present and correct. The group are still enthusiastic about the film, particularly when the documentary covers Easy Rider’s amazing success. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/17 "2007-08-03T20:14:06Z")
The Canadian television show “Trailer Park Boys” has an entire season in which the main characters grow and harvest weed, from a very very large field. A large field full of weed. In the DVD commentary, they talk about how it’s a hemp farm, and the hemp farmer was really nice to let them bring both a bobcat (the animal, not the machinery) AND a bus full of singers into his fields. Sorry, don’t have any info on how they smoked it, though. I’m sure they studied hard! ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/18 "2007-08-03T20:49:42Z")
I would think in some of your smaller independent films at least the real thing is used- a misdemeanor at best if caught, no suits to tell you not to, and trying to find something realsitic but fake would be a hassle. And plus, if the actor is supposed to be acting high, its easier if they actually are 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/19 "2007-08-03T20:56:56Z")
Manitol is also a lovely substitute for coke- in fact, it has been used as a cut as well. So I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172/20 "2007-08-03T21:33:19Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] …if the actor is supposed to be acting high, its easier if they actually are 😉 [/QUOTE] I thought about that, but came to the opposite conclusion. I can see where having had prior, real experience getting high would be useful, in terms of knowing how to act high. But, since you are supposed to be acting high while delivering memorized lines in a pre-determined fashion, I imagine that letting the actor actually get high would create a distraction that would cause the lines to get flubbed too much and ruin the scene. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-use-in-movies/414172.md?page=2)