You can’t get around drugs in movies, and we will probably all agree that drugs do make a very interesting subject for movies and other stories. Here are some of my favorite movie (and TV show) quotes about drugs.

5. Pulp Fiction

Ah, Amsterdam. As a Dutchie myself, it always amazes me how Amsterdam (note, that’s a city, not a country), is frequently used in movies to make some statement about drugs, among which this one in Pulp Fiction:

Jules: Hash is legal there in Amsterdam, right?

Vincent: Yeah, it’s legal, but it ain’t a hundred percent legal. I mean, you can’t just walk into a restaurant, roll a joint and start puffing away. You’re only supposed to smoke in your home or certain designated places.

Jules: And those are hashbars?

Vincent: Yeah. It breaks down like this: it’s legal to buy it, it’s legal to own it, and, if you’re the proprietor of a hash bar, it’s legal to sell it. It’s still illegal to carry it around […].

It’s a fun scene, but man, is it factually wrong. One:  yes, it’s technically illegal to smoke outside and you could be fined with €180 (about $250 USD), but it does happens a lot and I have never seen or heard about anyone being fined for it. People would frown at you because it’s improper and because it smells, but that’s as far as it goes. You’re certainly allowed to smoke at home or at one of those designated place: we call them coffee shops (certainly not “hash bars”, but perhaps that would be too confusing).

Secondly and more importantly: technically, nothing regarding the sale or possession of marijuana is “legal” – it’s tolerated. The Netherlands has had a “tolerance policy” regarding weed. So having up to (never over) five grams of weed is tolerated. However, ironically ,although you’re allowed to grow five plants for personal use, it’s illegal to grow weed in greater quantities for sale (e.g. for coffee shops to sell it, which are only allowed to sell small quantities per day). In any case, without boring you for too long with all the technicalities, weed is not “legal”, it’s tolerated, unlike it’s often portrayed to be, not only in films, but also in media. So now you know.

In any case, I do like quotes like these, especially in big movies like Pulp Fiction, because it’s just so plain wrong. Too bad it misinforms people though. Don’t come here if you want to get some keys of weed, you’ll still get in trouble.

4. Homeland Season 3, Episode 3 (“Tower of David”)

In this episode of the latest season of Homeland, we find Brody is (staying? Or kept prisoner?) in an unfinished skyscraper. Here, he is treated by a kind of doctor – we’re never sure whether he’s really a doctor. Doctor Graham’s favorite medicine is heroin, and he attempts to convince Brody of taking it multiple times in this episode. The creepy character, who is suggested to also have somewhat of a preference for young boys. This actually reminded me a lot of the pederasty in Ancient Greece where masters and apprentices would sometimes be in a relationship. Paco was, in a way, like an apprentice to Graham. I digress – I wanted to highlight one of Dr Graham’s many freaky and persistent quotes. During this scene, Graham has Paco prepare Brody to be injected with the heroin.

Graham: “The Germans who invented it, had a special name for a medicine powerful enough to do just that [making the voices go away]: Heroisch. Heroic. The drug is, so you don’t have to be.

That scene was pretty horrid. The ending of the episode was even more so though, when Brody injects himself out of pure desperation, locked in another cell.

3. Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back

On to something lighter. This isn’t just a quote. Jay & Silent Bob say a lot about drugs, primarily weed, in this movie, but the best part is the rap in the very beginning of the movie after the characters have been introduced. While singing and rapping, Jay and Silent Bob sell some drugs to some 13 year old kids.

Jay: Smoking weed, smoking weed
Doing coke, drinking beers
Drinking beers, beers, beers
Rolling fatties, smoking blunts
Who smokes the blunts?
We smoke the blunts
Rolling blunts and smoking ’em…

2. Trainspotting

Trainspotting does remain on the top of the best movies about drugs out there, in my opinion. Here’s a quote that instead of make you curious about drugs, inspires you with a bit of fear, and most of all, disgust (which is the case for most of Trainspotting, I think).

Mark Renton: I don’t feel the sickness yet, but it’s in the post. That’s for sure. I’m in the junkie limbo at the moment. Too ill to sleep. Too tired to stay awake, but the sickness is on its way. Sweat, chills, nausea. Pain and craving. A need like nothing else I’ve ever known will soon take hold of me. It’s on its way.”

Not a clip of the quote but one of my favorite scenes of the movie:

Yeah. Begbie. A character that’s one-of-a-kind. Truly classic. Check out his shoes in the beginning of the video, by the way. Also classic.

 
1. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

I have to admit that Fear and Loathing has been a long time favorite movie of mine. An odd choice, perhaps, but  I can’t help it – it’s a movie that always made me happy (and perhaps a bit too curious about drugs, too, for a girl of 15).

Raoul Duke: “We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers… Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we’d get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.”

This must be the best drugs quote out there – it’s so incredibly over the top it’s just plain ridiculous. And now I want to watch F&L again. Ah. Good memories.

What are your favorite movies about or dealing with drugs? Have some quotes to share?