# Realistic drug use in movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869 "2004-12-20T22:09:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eman77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@eman77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eman77)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/1 "2004-12-20T22:09:25Z")
I’m going to try to make this as board appropriate as possible. Last year I remember smoking Marijuana and watching Super Troopers. What struck me the most was in the beginning scene where the teens are riding in the car smoking Marijuana and how they truly act like they’re high. I remember watching and completely relating to what they were saying and doing and thinking that these guys certainly know what it feels like to be high. Earlier today I began thinking what other movie scenes are like this. Can you guys think of any other ones? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/2 "2004-12-20T22:31:31Z")
IANAJunkie, and I have never seen anyone inject heroin, but from what I understand, Harvey Keitel had it down - stone cold accurate- in Bad Lieutenant. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/3 "2004-12-21T00:57:44Z")
According to Peter Fonda, the pot-smoking scenes in **Easy Rider** involved the use of real pot. So not only were the actors familiar with the feeling, they didn’t even have to act. And…it surprises you that an actor may know what it feels like to be high? ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/4 "2004-12-21T01:01:53Z")
Trainspoting… …I think - I have never used that substance. And, Requim For a Dream was some-what accurate, ableit over stylized and dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/5 "2004-12-21T01:02:10Z")
Supposedly, the heroin overdoes scene in _Pulp Fiction_ is real, right down to (spoiler box just in case) jabbing a needle straight into the lady’s heart to get it beating again! :eep: The end sequence in 2000 makes _me_ feel like I’m on drugs…does that count? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![eman77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@eman77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eman77)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/6 "2004-12-21T02:28:55Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > According to Peter Fonda, the pot-smoking scenes in **Easy Rider** involved the use of real pot. So not only were the actors familiar with the feeling, they didn’t even have to act. > > And…it surprises you that an actor may know what it feels like to be high? It doesn’t, I just don’t think it’s easy to portray it very realistically. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/57b2e6/32.png) [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/7 "2004-12-21T06:25:46Z")
Traffic - A movie about drug trafficking portrays drug use fairly accurately ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/8 "2004-12-21T06:50:46Z")
> [@dotchan](#): > > Supposedly, the heroin overdoes scene in _Pulp Fiction_ is real, right down to > > (spoiler box just in case) > > jabbing a needle straight into the lady’s heart to get it beating again! :eep: > > The end sequence in 2000 makes _me_ feel like I’m on drugs…does that count? 😃 If you’re suggesting that Uma Thurman was filmed while actually suffering from a heroin overdose, I’m gonna have to ask for a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/9 "2004-12-21T10:33:48Z")
The British film of the late 90s, _Human Traffic_, portrays the clubbing and partying scene quite accurately. The characters use drugs about as heavily as normal young people on the scene and they react in the expected fashion. The main characters’ lives don’t end in ruin, which is both unusual for a film and realistic. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/10 "2004-12-21T11:24:16Z")
_Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke!_ Cheech: “Hey, how’s my driving, man?” Chong: “I think we’re parked, man!” lol! Except the scene where they accidentally snort Comet off a paper plate is probably a little exaggerated. ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/11 "2004-12-21T11:24:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Supposedly, the heroin overdoes scene in Pulp Fiction is real, right down to (what’s in the spoiler box) Bull-oney. The director’s commentary subtitle track on my Special Edition DVD of Pulp Fiction states that the technique used there would never work in real life, for a whole plethora of reasons, not least of which is the fact that the needle would break. The concept of what happened in that scene was completely invented by Tarantino. About depictions of drug use in movies: almost NO movies or TV shows accurately portray the effects of marijuana. I saw the abomination “Without a Paddle” some time ago, and there was a scene where three guys run through a burning field of marijuana, causing them to become completely giggly and goofy right away, as well as causing a pair of dogs to start rolling around on the ground with glee. The giggly-goofiness caused by weed isn’t nearly as extreme in real life as movies make it seem, also it doesn’t happen as soon as it does on film. (Movies don’t have the time to wait 15 minutes for the pot to take effect, so they always show the characters giggling and laughing immediately after taking a hit.) In reality, the best description of marijuana’s effects, particularly to the first-time user, came from Gunnar Hansen, the guy who played Leatherface in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He came to a showing of TCM at IU to sign autographs, give a talk about the making of the movie and have a Q and A session. He was describing a time when the director of catering for the movie baked everyone marijuana brownies, which were consumed by the cast and crew including Leatherface. As he said, the producer of the movie told Gunnar afterwards that he’d seen him sitting on the porch in a rocking chair, muttering “time has no meaning, time has no meaning, time has no meaning” over and over again. That’s more like it… ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/12 "2004-12-21T13:59:24Z")
I call bull-oney too. People don’t go tripping from a marijuana brownie. If he had baked them acid-brownies maybe. Most of the time you won’t notice if somebody is stoned, except for the fact that their eyes can get a little red, but that also happens when you have an allergy. _Trainspotting_ had some realistic scenes, and some very, very bad ones. _Requiem for a Dream_ was actually very good, I think. I can’t, for the life of me, think of any other movies. ---
**Author:** ![iggy\_popov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@iggy\_popov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iggy_popov)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/13 "2004-12-21T15:30:19Z")
In _Sid and Nancy_ there were former junkies on the set as consultants. I think they had the same thing on _Trainspotting_ too. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/14 "2004-12-21T18:30:16Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > IANAJunkie, and I have never seen anyone inject heroin, but from what I understand, Harvey Keitel had it down - stone cold accurate- in Bad Lieutenant. I’ll second that. Love the movie, though it is painful to watch. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/15 "2004-12-21T18:55:26Z")
What about that commercial with the guys smoking so much weed it pours out of their hoopty car when they try to order a burger at the drive-thru? That was realistic, right? Especially the part where they surge forward and the commercial stops just before they smear a little girl across the pavement? ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/16 "2004-12-21T19:37:30Z")
hehehe, Honestly, though, I imagine in Easy Rider, it wasn’t such a big deal to smoke a joint for the film, because it was typically much less strong in those days. No mentions of the big Lebowski? I wonder how the hell Jeff Bridges could have held in tobacco smoke like he did that roach in the bathtub scene. I’m sure it wasn’t weed though. We never got to roll a joint, but he seemed to do it pretty authentically. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/17 "2004-12-21T23:51:14Z")
I’m no expert, but the short film, A Junky’s Christmas seemed pretty accurate to me. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/18 "2004-12-22T00:41:17Z")
I haven’t seen _Rush_ mentioned. Until now. Realistc and depressing, in a manner similar to _Bad Lieutenant_. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/19 "2004-12-22T00:45:10Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > If you’re suggesting that Uma Thurman was filmed while actually suffering from a heroin overdose, I’m gonna have to ask for a cite. Sorry, I meant realistic, not real. And that’s been debunked above, sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869/20 "2004-12-22T01:27:22Z")
> [@vl\_mungo](#): > > I’m no expert, but the short film, A Junky’s Christmas seemed pretty accurate to me. Can you fix that link? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realistic-drug-use-in-movies/280869.md?page=2)