# Wacky Weed Use **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764 "2003-05-12T19:04:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/1 "2003-05-12T19:04:49Z")
Sometimes in the movies the characters use pot. It looks so real when they are using it. What are they really smoking? Pipe tobacco? Spices? I don’t know what else they could be using. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/2 "2003-05-12T19:14:22Z")
Don’t know about that, but I do know that until non-alcoholic beer came along, if you saw people drinking beer in the movies, they were actually drinking beer, because they couldn’t come up with something that had beer’s head retention (in other words, only beer looked like beer). ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/3 "2003-05-12T19:25:26Z")
Well, in the lovely world of the theatre, we use herbal cigs. They tend to have the about to fall apart, kind of chunky look of real pot. 'Course, that’s only for “joints.” I’m not really sure about the stuff they use in pipes, bongs, etc., but it’s probably just an herbal thing. I do remember the episode of the Dukes of Hazard where the boys were cought with a bale of hay that had been spray painted green and was refered (hah! refer-ed! I kill me) to as mary-jah-wanna. We seem to have come a long way in the field of pot imitating. ---
**Author:** ![BioHazard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3bc359/32.png) [@BioHazard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BioHazard)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/4 "2003-05-12T19:31:05Z")
Have you ever seen _The Beech_? I swear that field of MaryJ they found was the real thing. Are there any look-alike plants? Did they use a strain of Mary-J that has no THC? Did they use real pot because IIRC it was filmed out of the country? ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/5 "2003-05-12T19:32:26Z")
In 6Feet Under Brenda uses a bong a lot and the camera catches her smoking from the moment she lights it until she exhales the smoke. The smoke is thick and looks real. It’s amazing. Where do you buy herbal ciggerettes? Do you have to be 21 to buy them? ---
**Author:** ![db4530](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@db4530](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/db4530)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/6 "2003-05-12T19:56:17Z")
I think they talk about it in the audio commentary for American Beauty. I think they said it was just herbal/tobacco type of stuff. Prety harmless. I don’t think that Hollywood cares so much about avoiding use of actual pot as they do for making sure that the actors are able to be coherent for their next take. ---
**Author:** ![Flying\_Monk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/48db29/32.png) [@Flying\_Monk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flying_Monk)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/7 "2003-05-12T20:05:53Z")
I’m sure that many times the stuff they’re filming is real weed. Keep in mind that a lot of these actors are supplied with cocaine on the set, and no one is going to get overly concerned about pot. ---
**Author:** ![BioHazard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3bc359/32.png) [@BioHazard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BioHazard)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/8 "2003-05-12T20:21:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flying\_Monk \* > \*\*I’m sure that many times the stuff they’re filming is real weed. Keep in mind that a lot of these actors are supplied with cocaine on the set, and no one is going to get overly concerned about pot. \*\* CITE??? ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/9 "2003-05-12T20:34:52Z")
Chong, on the David Letterman Show, said no (wink wink) that was stunt dope. It was one of the three main characters in Easy Rider that said they were using the real thing during the filming of that movie. ---
**Author:** ![TridCloudwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TridCloudwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TridCloudwalker)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/10 "2003-05-12T20:49:36Z")
I’m sure it’s a 50/50 thing. It’s not like they’d get into any trouble using real weed. What proof would the authorities have that it was real? None. All the movie people need to say if they raise a fuss is that it was fake weed. Hell, Oliver Stone, Woody Harrelson, and Juliette Lewis used real shrooms in Natural Born Killers, and filmed the whole shrooming scene while tripping. They all freely admit to it. And even so, the authorities really cant do anything about it. They pretty much have to physically catch them in the act. ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/11 "2003-05-12T20:52:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Isabelle \* > Where do you buy herbal ciggerettes? Do you have to be 21 to buy them? You can buy them in most smoke shops (tobacco stores, cigar shops, etc). I’m not sure about any age restrictions, but I assume you must be 18. In my experience, they smell and taste **nasty**. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/12 "2003-05-12T21:27:14Z")
Hemp (grown for fibre and seed/oil) has an appearance almost indistinguishable from the real thing (in fact is pretty much _is_ the real thing, just lacks the THC) ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/13 "2003-05-12T21:46:48Z")
Of course producers wouldn’t come out say, “Yep, it’s real weed.” But I often wonder how many times actors would voluntarily _want_ to smoke real weed to get them in the “zone” for the scene. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/14 "2003-05-12T21:51:22Z")
A couple months ago, there was a blurb in _Maxim_ that stated the weed in _Platoon_ was real. The movie was shot outside of the US though. I remember reading (or maybe it was on the DVD special features) that baking powder was used in _Blow_ in place of cocaine. Johnny Depp allegedly got horrible headaches from inhaling it. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/15 "2003-05-12T21:56:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BioHazard \* > \*\*Have you ever seen _The Beech_? I swear that field of MaryJ they found was the real thing. Are there any look-alike plants? Did they use a strain of Mary-J that has no THC? Did they use real pot because IIRC it was filmed out of the country? \*\* Recently in the UK people were finding fields (and stealing the plants within and smoking them)of what they belived to be marajuana, grown by the government for scientific investigation into it’s medical value. However what they were actually finding was just fields of commercial hemp which has only miniscule amounts of the chemicals which makes cannabis a narcotic (certainly not enough to give any kind of a high without smoking herculean amounts) which is perfectly legal to grow (though I believe their are a few restrictions in the UK at least because of the tiny trace of these chemicals). The UK government is growing cannabis to investigate it’s medical value, but only in greenhouses at very secure locations. So my guess is what you saw in the film was just commercial hemp which does look very simliar to it’s close relative, cannabis. ---
**Author:** ![futureman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3da27b/32.png) [@futureman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/futureman)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/16 "2003-05-13T21:50:44Z")
The University of Mississippi has a legal marijuana field for research also. Its outside, but its heavily guarded too. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/17 "2003-05-13T22:04:26Z")
If you watch the documentary _Hearts of Darkness_, you’ll see Sam Bottoms (Lance) commenting on his own personal drug use and that of others during the making of the film _Apocalypse Now_. (Among other things, Martin Sheen’s little dance with a bottle of Jack Daniels was apparently the real thing, as was his blood thereafter.) If I remember correctly, Bottoms said that despite the fact that he was high as a kite, he actually _avoided_ using some of the drugs he was supposed to be doing on screen because he felt it would dull his edge, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Frank\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_2)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacky-weed-use/174764/18 "2003-05-14T13:14:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flying\_Monk \* > \*\*Keep in mind that a lot of these actors are supplied with cocaine on the set, and no one is going to get overly concerned about pot. \*\* True, at least for the one instance I know. I have a friend that is slowly working on an acting career (he was recently in the TV show Hack) During some of his earlier parts in films, he (along with everyone else) was routinely given cocaine as a stimulant so that they could continue to film for hours upon hours. He became addicted to cocaine from what he was given on set. Thankfully he was able to quit and hasn’t touched the stuff since. While this is only one instance of a lower-budget film, it does lend credence to the myth that actors are given drugs and doing drugs on set.