Shooting stars : drugs, Hollywood and the movies / Harry Shapiro.

"Covering the 1920s marijuana mayhem to the cocaine storm that hit Hollywood in the '70s and the heroin chic films of the '90s, this book investigates the drug myths propagated in movies. Shapiro asks not only whether films have glamorised drugs but shows the clear but complex links between censorship, public morals and the Hollywood dream machine. Shooting Stars begins with the opium movies of the silent days and charts all major, and most minor, drug films right up to the present. From Reefer Madness through The Man with the Golden Arm (the first time a Hollywood star - Frank Sinatra - played a drug addict) and on to films such as Panic in the Needle Park and Trainspotting, Shapiro provides exhaustive detail about each film and what it portrays. Shooting Stars also includes a comprehensive history of drug use and film censorship in the US and UK, as well as tales of the underbelly of Hollywood's star system and lifestyle."--From cover.