# Question about smoking in movies.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2001, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561 "2001-11-21T07:05:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RAWisSYDNEY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4491bb/32.png) [@RAWisSYDNEY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWisSYDNEY)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/1 "2001-11-21T07:05:27Z")
i was watching the 1986 film “Stand By Me” and in several scenes the kids (not sure of the ages, but early teens) are seen smoking what appear to be cigarrettes. anyone know what they were smoking? they couldn’t have been real could they? ---
**Author:** ![Kerrigan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/49beb7/32.png) [@Kerrigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kerrigan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/2 "2001-11-21T07:50:25Z")
Why would they have not been real? ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/3 "2001-11-21T10:52:57Z")
I saw that movie the other day. The cigs looked pretty real to me. However, being a smoker, it did not look like they were inhaling. On a sarcastic note: I noticed they said a few curse words. Anyone know what they were? They couldn’t have been real could they? 😛 * * * Plato? Aristotle? Socrates? Morons! ~And I know I wasn’t right, but it felt so good… -Better Than Ezra ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/4 "2001-11-21T12:26:31Z")
They have special herbal cigarettes that look the same but are pretty much harmless, i think. They give them to non-smoker actors who are required to smoke when in character. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/5 "2001-11-21T13:06:18Z")
I asked David Feldman (“Imponderables”) about this, before I knew about the SDMB, and he said the same thing that **GuanoLad** said. ---
**Author:** ![Breezy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@Breezy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breezy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/6 "2001-11-21T17:29:35Z")
My husband has smoked since he was 12 years old. He’s 25 now, so he’s smoked over half his life. Anyway, my point is that he smoked then, so why wouldn’t the kids in the movie be able to smoke?? As I understand the law here in Missouri, it’s illegal to buy cigarettes when you’re under 18, but it’s not illegal to actually be smoking them. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa\_Ann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Lisa\_Ann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa_Ann)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/7 "2001-11-21T18:42:03Z")
I am a huge Stephen King fan, and I’ve both read the book and seen the movie. I’d say these children actors were smoking in the movie because it’s integral to the characters they played. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/8 "2001-11-21T18:47:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GuanoLad \* > They give them to non-smoker actors who are required to smoke when in character. Do you mean [Morleys](http://us.imdb.com/Trivia?0106179)? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/9 "2001-11-21T18:51:56Z")
Why don’t you ask Wil Wheaton, who starred in the movie and was presumably one of the smokers? He’s got his own web page. (Yes, he made it himself, and his e-mail goes directly to him, not a fan club or his agent.) Finding Wil Wheaton’s web page is left as an exercise to the reader. (Hint: Google is your friend.) ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/10 "2001-11-21T18:55:01Z")
The actor who plays the Cigarette Smoking man from X-Files is not a smoker IRL, so he smokes those herbal cigarettes. He said in an interview that they accidentally gave him a real cigarette once, and he took a nice deep drag and nearly ralphed all over the set. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/11 "2001-11-21T19:11:26Z")
William B. Davis (The Smoking Man) gave an interview on one of the X-Files season DVDs where he says that he used to be a smoker, but had quit for several years before starting on _The X-Files_. When filming the pilot episode, he requested real cigarettes “since I’m a dedicated actor” but after smoking them was afraid he’d get hooked again, so then smoked the fake ones therafter. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/12 "2001-11-21T19:15:25Z")
Incidentally, in Real Life William B. Davis has this goofy, high-pitched voice and grins all the time. It’s indicitive of his talent that he can pull off a character like CSM so well. ---
**Author:** ![horhay\_achoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@horhay\_achoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horhay_achoa)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/13 "2001-11-21T19:50:44Z")
[slight hijack] I always wonder if they actually smoke weed in some movies where the characters smoke weed. dazed and confused comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-smoking-in-movies/94561/14 "2001-11-22T00:13:52Z")
horhay: Usually not. Most movie sets have at least a few Teamsters around, and they wouldn’t take too kindly to that hippie shit. Most likely it’s the faux herbal cigarettes mentioned above. I myself have used them on stage for that precise purpose; we even got some that smelled remarkably like pot. (“Mutter mutter mutter!” from the audience when the aroma reached them. Heh heh.) There are exceptions, of course. _Easy Rider_ is legendary for its actors’ onscreen illicit-substance consumption. It’s an independent film, though, so they could get away with it.