# What are actors snorting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-actors-snorting/540742 "2010-05-25T20:03:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-actors-snorting/540742/1 "2010-05-25T20:03:37Z")
Many movies show actors ostensibly snorting cocaine or what have you with a straw. Extreme close ups certainly make it look like the powder goes up their nose(s). What are they actually snorting and given how health conscious some people are (should be) is there any potential harm in what they snort? Thanks - ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-actors-snorting/540742/2 "2010-05-25T20:11:08Z")
I’ve heard about a lot of different things being used, but I haven’t been on set for a shoot that involved this, so I can’t say from personal experience. Things I’ve heard of being used include: powdered milk Vitamin B12 flour corn starch lactose (baby laxative) powdered sugar Powdered milk and B12 are the 2 I hear most frequently, so I listed them up top. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-actors-snorting/540742/3 "2010-05-25T20:13:16Z")
For what IMDB is worth, it lists powdered milk as the coke of choice in the movie [_Blow_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221027/trivia) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-actors-snorting/540742/4 "2010-05-25T20:26:53Z")
Sometimes they aren’t snorting anything. They can use a prop that has a vacuum to do the sucking, and they use camera angles to hide the contraption. Sometimes the actor exhales instead of inhales, and the line of coke disappears as they go, making it look like they are inhaling it. An undercover cop once said in an interview that he slid his hand along and scooped up the coke and shoved it into his pocket. ---
**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-actors-snorting/540742/5 "2010-05-25T20:49:43Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I’ve heard about a lot of different things being used, but I haven’t been on set for a shoot that involved this, so I can’t say from personal experience. Things I’ve heard of being used include: > > powdered milk > Vitamin B12 > flour > corn starch > lactose (baby laxative) > powdered sugar > > Powdered milk and B12 are the 2 I hear most frequently, so I listed them up top. I’ve never heard of lactose (milk sugar) as being described as “baby laxative”. Maybe the babies haven’t developed the ability to synthesize lactase? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-actors-snorting/540742/6 "2010-05-25T20:57:20Z")
> [@rayman5321](#): > > I’ve never heard of lactose (milk sugar) as being described as “baby laxative”. Maybe the babies haven’t developed the ability to synthesize lactase? Sorry, that should have been lactulose, not lactose. ---
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-actors-snorting/540742/7 "2010-05-25T22:01:12Z")
Thank you - ignorance successfully fought - on this issue at least. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-actors-snorting/540742/8 "2010-05-25T22:06:09Z")
How come it’s okay to snort powdered milk or flour or powdered sugar up your nose? Doesn’t that give a lot of potential food to bacteria and encourage a sinus infection? Or am I way off in my thinking on that? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-actors-snorting/540742/9 "2010-05-25T22:08:28Z")
Depends on when the movie was made. In the 80’s they might have used cocaine.