Bong Hits: A Brief History of Drugs in American Cinema
Dedicated to Tommy Chong . . .
"High on the list of the greatest actors of all time are names like Olivier, De Niro, Nicholson, and Peck. But if you made a list of the highest actors of all time, Tommy Chong's name would be at the top. Best known for his work alongside Cheech Marin in films like Up in Smoke and Still Smokin', Chong is like the Marlon Brando of limning burned-out hippies. He played Squirrel Master, a burned-out hippie in the movie Half Baked; starred as Leo, the burned-out hippie on That '70s Show; and took the lead in an off-Broadway one-man show titled The Marijuana-Logues, in which he discussed life as a burned-out hippie. He's so dedicated to his craft that he even did a quick turn in a different kind of joint after pleading guilty to conspiring to sell drug paraphernalia. That's the ultimate exercise in method acting . . ."
—Paul A. Leone, New Times, July 13-19, 2006
International House [1933]
Reefer Madness [1936]
The Man With the Golden Arm [1955]
I Love You, Alice B. Toklas [1968]
Easy Rider [1969]
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls [1970]
Woodstock [1970]
The French Connection [1971]
Up in Smoke [1978]
Altered States [1980]
Fast Times at Ridgemont High [1982]
Scarface [1983]
Less Than Zero [1987]
Drugstore Cowboy [1989]
Goodfellas [1990]
The Doors [1991]
Naked Lunch [1991]
New Jack City [1991]
Dazed and Confused [1993]
The Basketball Diaries [1995]
Boogie Nights [1997]
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [1998]
Requiem for a Dream [2000]
Traffic [2000]
Blow [2001]
Spun [2003]
CODA
"'The War Against Drugs has united us as a nation' . . . A nation of what? Stool pigeons? Informers? . . . Our pioneer ancestors would puke in their graves . . . What is this asshole Bennett, who smokes two packs of cancer a day, really saying? To be a good American you have to be a goddamn liar? Of course people live to ripe and productive old age on junk. Look at Herbert Huncke, 81; De Quincey, 74; George Crabbe, English poet, 78; and yours truly, [82] and still kicking . . . Nixon said that Tim Leary, old friend of mine, was 'the most dangerous man in America.' Dangerous to whom, exactly? To a blueprint for an international police state under cover of a total drug war."
—William S. Burroughs, Nov. 17, 1996, journal entry, Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs
"And so she woke up
Woke up from where she was lyin' still.
Said I gotta do something
About where we're goin'.
Step on a fast train
Step out of the driving rain, maybe
Run from the darkness in the night . . .
Sweet the sin, bitter the taste in my mouth.
I see seven towers, but I only see one way out.
You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice.
You know I took the poison, from the poison stream
Then I floated out of here, singing . . .
She walks through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under black belly of cloud in the rain.
In through a doorway
She brings me white golden pearls
Stolen from the sea . . .
She will suffer the needle chill
She's running to stand still."
—U2, "Running to Stand Still"