Below is a scene from 'Pulp Fiction' containing drug use. We decided that the close-up shots of the drug equipment were really good and would be very effective if we could re-create them well. We have decided to use something similar to this in our film.

Drugs

In our film the main character has a drug addiction to heroin, actually tea and crushed brown sugar :). We decided to find out the usual effects this drug has on the body and general information on it. This made sure we knew the proper effects of it and could properly show it in the film.

Effects: Heroin slows down body functioning and substantially reduces physical and psychological pain.
Most users get a rush or buzz a few minutes after taking it.
A small dose of heroin gives the user a feeling of warmth and well-being.
Bigger doses can make the user sleepy and very relaxed.
The first dose of heroin can bring about dizziness and vomiting.

Purity: A user has no way of knowing what their heroin is mixed with. Recent tests have shown it can contain nutmeg, brick dust, and ground-up gravel but it’s more commonly mixed with sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine.

Risks: Deaths from overdoses occur. But the risk increases after a period off the drug because the body's tolerance for the drug goes down.

If this drug is taken with alcohol or any other drugs it increases the chances of overdosing.

Injecting heroin can do nasty damage to your veins and has been known to lead to gangrene (death and decay of body tissue, usually a digit or a limb) and tissue infections.

http://www.talktofrank.com/drugs.aspx?id=186

Several films from different genres have shown depictions drug taking scenes with varying levels of seriousness. This scene tends to appear more often in films that feature gangster lifestyles (layer cake, snatch, etc) or social realism films (trainspotting, kidulthood, etc).

Casino Royale:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yNntwSjOwo&feature=player_embedded#at=76

In Casino Royale there is a scene very similar to a drug scene where James Bond is poisoned. The scene shows him walking in a brightly lit room and the camera is very shaky. The exaggeration of the lighting is obviously a side effect of the drug as is the shakiness of the camera. The shakiness of the camera is also done to show the effects the drug have had on the body e.g loss of mobility and co-ordination skills.

Training Day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqJyNw8tGE0&feature=player_embedded#

In this scene from Training Day, it shows one character after smoking some marijuana. The scene is slowed down after and the colours slightly distorted. The sound has been altered and sounds slightly more echoey than it was before.

Trainspotting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgeDh1WCyeM&feature=player_embedded#

Probably the best known out of all of the examples for it's drug related storyline. The scene above shows a 'bad trip.' The character looks extremely anxious and restless and also sweaty. The scene shows no obvious special effects as this scene shows 'coming down' from a drug rush however the colours are very dim and grey.

Sugarhouse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka0gdqGFT2g&feature=related

This scene from independent film Sugarhouse only shows a little bit of drug use. The character using the drugs knows that it's wrong and turns the religious statue away from him. There aren't many special effects to show the affects on the body but the character taking the drugs starts dancing and acting as if he completely at ease. Out of all the examples this is the only one that doesn't make drug use look extremely negative.