Drugs in Hollywood

Question

I talked to a novelist the other day who has two properties in turn-around and who wrote the script for a high-profile movie. He told me about a party he'd been to at the home of an exec. He said that after the kids were put to bed, the ... um ... other kind of candy was brought out.
It all sounded so '80s. I mean, there used to be articles about Hollywood execs keeping the Colombian economy afloat, but I thought that was years ago. I read whatshername's memoir "You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again" and some of Carrie Fisher's novels, but their stuff happened years ago. I haven't seen any news articles about the indulgences of entertainment execs in a long time. The media usually just reports on the substances abused by the people in front of the camera.
So do you guys see this stuff going on a lot? Is it just as prevalent as it ever was, or has it dropped off, or has it gotten worse since you've been in the business?
Lois

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I talked to a novelist the other day who has two properties in turn-around and who wrote the script for ... it ever was, or has it dropped off, or has it gotten worse since you've been in the business? Lois[/nq]
It's not just Hollywood. I visited friends in Texas earlier in the year when I was doing some recording and they hadn't stopped smoking dope since high school. Visited some more friends in New York not long ago and out came the pipe. It amazes me how my generation simply ADDED other inebriants while professing when we were younger that THEIR inebriants were less harmful than alcohol and now they all do both.

One thing that gets me in Hollywood, though, is that I can pretty much guarantee which side of the political aisle people doing drugs are on. A guy I knew went into Normal Lear's office once and he had a quart jar of cocaine there. Another friend dated Harry Nilsson and she was in Ringo Starr's kitchen and the same size jar came out. (At least Ringo's gone straight since, I've been told.)
Aaron Sorkin and Oliver Stone both get busted with illegal pharmacies. They're "on top" so do you think they might get emulated?

I noticed no one else answer your post for a full day. The deafening silence spoke volumnes.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]So do you guys see this stuff going on a ... it gotten worse since you've been in the business? Lois[/nq]
[nq:1]It's not just Hollywood. I visited friends in Texas earlier in the year when I was doing some recording and ... Hollywood, though, is that I can pretty much guarantee which side of the political aisle people doing drugs are on.[/nq]
To the extent that Hollywood politics are more likely statistically to be Democrat than Republican, I would expect the same thing too.

There are probably more Democrat wife-beaters, pedophiles and tobacco smokers to simply because they greatly outnumber the Republicans in the industry. The statistic that counts is not the raw numbe, but the per capita rate.
But even if you're 100% right, does that mean Democrats outside Hollywood are more likely than Republicans to be drug abusers?

Who really knows? I could be wrong but I get the impression that crystal meth labs are mostly located in Red states.
I also get the impression that the drug of choice for the Right is more likely to be alcohol than pot. Yes, it's legal... but no less destructive.
By the way... from your extensive experience, which side of the political aisle do most Scientologists come from?
[nq:1]A guy I knew went into Normal Lear's office once and he had a quart jar of cocaine there. Another ... might get emulated? I noticed no one else answer your post for a full day. The deafening silence spoke volumnes.[/nq]
I don't speak for others, but I didn't reply because I simply don't know the answer to the question Lois was asking.

Work is love made visible.
? Kahlil Gibran

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]It's not just Hollywood. I visited friends in Texas earlier ... side of the political aisle people doing drugs are on.[/nq]
[nq:1]To the extent that Hollywood politics are more likely statistically to be Democrat than Republican, I would expect ... outnumber the Republicans in the industry. The statistic that counts is not the raw numbe, but the per capita rate.[/nq]
You're doing the "spread the logic" thing. We're talking about drugs.
[nq:1]But even if you're 100% right, does that mean Democrats outside Hollywood are more likely than Republicans to be drug abusers?[/nq]
I know lots of Democrats who aren't. My friends in Texas are mostly moderate Republicans. My friends in NY are, too. But with one exception these are people who make a lot of money.
I know a Demo governor whose wife was a drunk, though, which is probably why he chated on her and messed up his career.

I was just saying that it's kind of a pity that my generation has TWO methods of inebriation whereas my parents' generation didn't so much.
[nq:1]Who really knows? I could be wrong but I get the impression that crystal meth labs are mostly located in Red states.[/nq]
They're located in poor places and outside cities mostly. I never did it but I get the impression meth is cheap. Democrats tend to be concentrated in urban areas and states where there are a lot of ex-hippies like Vermont and Oregon.
[nq:1]I also get the impression that the drug of choice for the Right is more likely to be alcohol than pot. Yes, it's legal... but no less destructive.[/nq]
They're probably both about the same in differing ways. If you want to network effectively in Hollywood, though, one viable option is being a friend of Bill - and by that I mean Alcoholics Anonymous. That scene in The Player wasn't a joke.
[nq:1]By the way... from your extensive experience, which side of the political aisle do most Scientologists come from?[/nq]
Funny, when I was involved I never paid attention to that. I recall them being on both sides. They'll suck up to people they see as potentially blackmailable, though, like Mark Foley. And with Foley being gay, there's plenty of room for certain $cientology stars to suck up to him (pun intended).
[nq:2]A guy I knew went into Normal Lear's office once ... post for a full day. The deafening silence spoke volumnes.[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't speak for others, but I didn't reply because I simply don't know the answer to the question Lois was asking.[/nq]
Well, I've been in Hollywood a long time and seen a lot of crazy stuff. I talked to Julia Phillips when she was writing "You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again" (I was writing something for a Hollywood Reporter publication). Whew.
Basically I think that smoking grass in Hollywood is a regular thing, just like it is in many other areas of the country. As far as I know from friends there, the top cash crop in both West Virginia and Kentucky is marijuana.
That's just how it is. What bothers me about Hollywood is the massive use of hallucinogenics and the harder stuff. Even then, it's their life but then they make movies and shows that influence people and I think a lot of what they write is heavily influenced by what they stick in their mouth, ala Sorkin and Stone. Both of those guys are simply nuts in my opinion. And I hate to see massive talents like Robert Downey Jr. go downhill - and this is a guy whose showbiz dad "turned him on" to smoking grass when he was 8.
I'd probably feel the same way if someone was a chronic drunk and making movies with wacky ideas in them that they wanted us to take seriously.
I also don't hesitate when I think someone's getting nuts by the drugs they're doing, like a guy I know who's making a million or so a script who doesn't talk to me any more because I asked if he was using again. His work has declined in quality since - Dave's not here, man.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]So do you guys see this stuff going on a lot? Is it just as prevalent as it ever was, or has it dropped off, or has it gotten worse since you've been in the business?[/nq]
California is much more liberal that a lot of other states about Marijuana (although I suspect that's not the drug you're talking about.)

People just don't consider it a big deal. EG a woman I know was recently busted in Michigan for carrying a small amount of pot - the amount that would be essentially a parking ticket here (or, heck, a couple-of-hundred dollar fine coming across the border from Mexico into Texas, which happened to another friend of mine).
She was arrested, had to stand trial, and is serving five months probation where she has to get drug tested every month. This strikes just about everyone I know as ridiculous, but, heck, that's America for you.
As for harder stuff, I know a lot more people who do coke on occasion that I did (although lest anybody make a political comment, let me add that I grew up in a city far more liberal than LA), I happen to know that it's around in the club scene a lot, but the only party I've been to where I've actually seen it was in L.A.
The people I know who do harder stuff seem to do E, shrooms, or LSD - which aren't the kind of stuff that you necessarily see people doing.

-Ron

Usenet · Answer

The heavy fines and jail time for weed strikes me as the most obscene kind of overkill. Don't protect me from responsible adults who toke up on weekends. Protect me from illlegal aliens driving drunk.

On the production side, I worked w/ an AD who had a serious coke problem. As the shoot went later and later, this person would disappear in the bathroom for longer and longer periods, and emerge buzzing like a power line. It worked out well for me, because I got to take on more responsibility than I otherwise would.
On another show, the entire AD crew would toke up over lunch. Highly inappropriate, IMHO. When at work, no three martini lunches, and no fat spliffs.

Drugs in Hollywood

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions