# Snorting White Powder **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 10, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091 "2006-04-10T15:26:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/1 "2006-04-10T15:26:33Z")
I just finished watching the movie Magnolia and it triggered a question I have always wondered. When actors are playing drug addicts, and they are required in a scene to snort some white powder that is supposed to look like cocaine, what are they actually snorting? I would think snorting bleached flour or powdered sugar wouldn’t be very healthy for the actor. Is there some sort of “stunt” cocaine that prop deparments have come up with? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/2 "2006-04-10T16:55:59Z")
Could be Manitol, which I understand is or was used to cut pure cocaine. In a friend’s film the actor bent down with a metal tube. Then there was a cut to an extreme close-up of the powder going up the tube, and another cut to the actor straightening up. In reality, the ‘cocaine’ was granulated sugar and the ‘tube’ was the metal nozzle of a vacuum cleaner. It was very convincing. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/3 "2006-04-10T17:06:27Z")
I have been told that you can snort vitamin B powder, but I can’t find a cite for that, so take that with another white powdery substance in single granular form. ---
**Author:** ![Walton\_Firm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Walton\_Firm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walton_Firm)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/4 "2006-04-10T17:56:04Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > In a friend’s film the actor bent down with a metal tube. Then there was a cut to an extreme close-up of the powder going up the tube, and another cut to the actor straightening up. In reality, the ‘cocaine’ was granulated sugar and the ‘tube’ was the metal nozzle of a vacuum cleaner. It was very convincing. Alternatively, it shouldn’t be too difficult to have the actor’s nose and the powder in the shot together, but have the vacuum cleaner nozzle going into the tube at the end that’s hidden from the camera, and hidden by the actor’s hands and head. If that makes sense to anybody but me. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/5 "2006-04-10T17:59:32Z")
In _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_, they snorted powdered milk. > [@](#): > > Before Blow, Depp had shot other drug movies and managed to escape back to France with his insides relatively intact. During the druggy scenes for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, for example, Depp snorted lactose. > > “It’s powdered milk,” director Terry Gilliam later explained to the press. “I kept saying that by the end of the film, he’d be capable of breast-feeding the entire crew.” > > However, for Blow, director Ted Demme had Depp & Co. inhale laxatives. Yes, the same stuff that models and Oscar nominees insist they never, ever use the day before the big event to shrink themselves into size zeros. > > “It’s really horrible,” Demme told New York magazine after the film wrapped. “It makes you completely stuffed up and want to puke, kind of like real coke.” > **[Breaking Celebrity News, Entertainment News and Celeb Gossip - E! Online](https://www.eonline.com/news)** > > Get the latest news on celebrity scandals, engagements, and divorces! Check out our breaking stories on Hollywood's hottest stars! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/6 "2006-04-10T22:25:57Z")
Mannitol is a baby laxative, sold as a white powder. It is commonly used to “cut” cocaine, so we know it’s more-or-less safe to inhale. Lactose (milk sugar) is often used to cut heroin. Occasional heroin users sometimes snort it instead of injecting, so we know that lactose won’t kill you. There’s a reality warp here that’s making me shake my head, wobbity-wobbity. Here we are, speculating about the safety of snorting innocuous stuff, relative to cocaine or heroin. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/7 "2006-04-10T22:49:46Z")
They’re _Hollywood_ people. I would have assumed they’d just use cocaine. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/8 "2006-04-10T23:10:13Z")
Sorry, no cite, but I heard somewhere that narcotics detectives have special straws that catch the coke somewhere in the middle; these allow them to appear to be snorting it up like everyone else without actually ingesting any of the drug. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/9 "2006-04-11T00:59:26Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Could be Manitol, which I understand is or was used to cut pure cocaine. > > In a friend’s film the actor bent down with a metal tube. Then there was a cut to an extreme close-up of the powder going up the tube, and another cut to the actor straightening up. In reality, the ‘cocaine’ was granulated sugar and the ‘tube’ was the metal nozzle of a vacuum cleaner. It was very convincing. Uh huh. You’re not really from L.A., are ya friend? 😛 One does want to tread lightly with what one asks an actor to snort up into the sinuses. As our esteemed **Johnny** has indicated, one can work wonders with editing, angles and a good hard-sucking Kirby. Shall we all recall, for a moment, the extreme close-up from **Pulp Fiction** as the needle penetrates the arm and hits a vein? Graphic, and appeared to be real, but was obviously a cut-away and not our lovely starlet. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/10 "2006-04-11T01:22:07Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Uh huh. You’re not really from L.A., are ya friend? 😛 That film was made in New Orleans. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/11 "2006-04-11T01:28:52Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Shall we all recall, for a moment, the extreme close-up from **Pulp Fiction** as the needle penetrates the arm and hits a vein? Graphic, and appeared to be real, but was obviously a cut-away and not our lovely starlet. > > Cartooniverse That was John Travolta shooting up. Uma Thurman snorted his Heroin, thinking it was cocaine. Sorry for the Hijack, can’t resist a Pulp Fiction nitpick. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/12 "2006-04-11T04:37:03Z")
> [@](#): > > It is commonly used to “cut” cocaine, so we know it’s more-or-less safe to inhale. While the conclusion might be true, I have to question the reasoning, here. And if there are powders (like powdered milk) that can be used without unpleasant effects, why would anyone use a laxitive instead? ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/13 "2006-04-11T06:09:17Z")
I had a thread on this subject a while back, but SEARCH won’t let me go back that far. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/14 "2006-04-11T09:47:56Z")
> [@Translucent Daydream](#): > > I have been told that you can snort vitamin B powder, but I can’t find a cite for that, so **take that with another white powdery substance in single granular form**. Now that _can’t_ be good for you! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/15 "2006-04-11T09:55:06Z")
In the extremely long ago forgotten past, I used coke. Shamelessly. If I bought a quarter to split with a friend it wasn’t beyond my excellent morals at the time to cut it with baking soda. You couldn’t tell the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Firebringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@Firebringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Firebringer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/16 "2006-04-11T13:14:39Z")
Perhaps they use Sherbet. Certainly imagine it would give a bit of a ‘kick’ if the actor was into method acting. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/17 "2006-04-11T15:21:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > While the conclusion might be true, I have to question the reasoning, here. > > And if there are powders (like powdered milk) that can be used without unpleasant effects, why would anyone use a laxitive instead? From what I’ve read, dealers use Mannitol because it looks exactly like cocaine and mixes well without clumping. That way the customer can’t tell how many times it’s been stepped on. There must be some drawback to using powdered milk to cut cocaine, or the dealers would all use it. I’m not speaking from experience, and I really can’t tell you how various powders behave in moist air, under hot lights, or how they look in extreme close-up. **The Loaded Dog** assumed actors used real cocaine, seeing as how they probably use it off the job anyway. I have to agree it makes sense, except when the director wants to shoot eight or ten takes of the same scene “to get it just right.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/18 "2006-04-11T15:26:32Z")
I think they use different substances depending on whether it’s a close-up, distance shot, or someone is snorting it. In **Velvet Goldmine** , for example, they used bleaching powder for the distance shots. Toni Collette said (in some promotional interview) how the funniest thing was the set designers going around with megaphone before each shot in that scene saying “people, don’t snort the white powder, it’s not coke, it’s bleach. I repeat, don’t snort the white powder, it’s not coke, it’s bleach”. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/19 "2006-04-11T21:47:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > While the conclusion might be true, I have to question the reasoning, here. > > And if there are powders (like powdered milk) that can be used without unpleasant effects, why would anyone use a laxitive instead? Uh, it’s not actually powdered milk. Didn’t you read the quote? They used lactose, which is a sugar naturally present in milk. Mannitol is a sugar alcohol. They’re not dramatically different substances. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091/20 "2006-04-11T22:24:23Z")
Until you try eating them. Mannitol is a laxative. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snorting-white-powder/352091.md?page=2)