Cannabis and Driving in Pop Culture
How movies and TV shows may reinforce misconceptions about driving high
Many movies and TV shows in popular culture portray cannabis smoking: Dazed and Confused, That 70's Show, Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke and more. The presence of cannabis on screen is common. It can play many roles, like playfully teasing the cannabis consumer stereotype, emphasizing a main character’s personality or even acting as a casual prop in group settings or party scenes.
Do you recognize some of these popular films that feature cannabis use?
Source: Film School Rejects
“The Dude,” Jeff Bridges, is featured in The Big Lebowski smoking cannabis and jamming out to his radio. He crashes shortly after.
Source: Off Screen
Up in Smoke features two iconic fictional cannabis consumers, Cheech and Chong, smoking a comically large joint while exchanging nonsensical discourse.
Source: HBO Watch
After dealing with interpersonal drama within her family and friend group, a Big Little Lies character seeks to take the edge off with cannabis.
Source: IMBD
Pineapple Express features a process server and prominent cannabis consumer (Seth Rogan) smoking weed during the movie’s opening scene.
These are just a few examples of how cannabis can be used to keep a plot moving, add drama to a scene or build on a character’s personality. But there’s a darker side to these scenes. They can unintentionally normalize driving high, which is illegal.
When the combination of cannabis and driving appears on screen, seemingly harmless portrayals of fictional characters driving under the influence can send the wrong message and lead to illegal behaviors in the real world.
An article on Medium called “The Impact of Film on Society: A Deeper Look” explores how behaviors seen on screen — legal or illegal — can influence your behavior in the real world. From both cultural and individual lenses, viewers can normalize or even act on certain behaviors due to pop culture’s influential nature. Illegal behaviors seen in film — especially if they are performed by likable characters, a viewer’s role model or even a superhero — can ultimately shape public opinion.
While Hollywood can get away with it, you cannot: driving high can get you a DUI.
Film and show sets are also controlled environments. While your favorite actors are likely not consuming actual cannabis to get the perfect shot, if they were, they don’t face the real-life consequences and risks that you do while driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, cannabis slows your reaction time, impacts your ability to keep a consistent speed, causes drivers to weave in and out of their lane and more. If you feel different, you drive different.
The message is clear: just because driving high is often featured in pop culture, movies and TV shows, it doesn’t mean it’s acceptable. Driving under the influence of cannabis, alcohol and/or other drugs is always against the law and can result in a DUI.
