I don't think it inspires people to do drugs, and I don't think it inspires them not to do them. I don't think drugs are the focus at all. In my opinion, it's stupid to be pro-drugs, and it's also very stupid to be anti-drugs (I'm talking drugs with little-to-none addictiveness and very little harm if used in responsible moderation... Marijuana, LSD, shrooms, alcohol, etc... I can understand opposing heroin, cocaine, meth, crack, and so on...)

HST is a smart individual. I think he's smart enough to accept the responsibility of drug use, and smart enough to realize that certain drugs really aren't as harmful as the media plays them up to be if used in very, very careful moderation. He must've, after all, he never had any health issues regarding drug abuse, never OD'd, or anything of the likes. I think he recognized which drugs were--mostly--safe to experiment with, and I think he knew which ones he had to be careful with.

It'd just stupid to take sides in this sort of a matter; I'd never recommend that someone try drugs, and at the same time, I'd never try to talk someone out of it unless they were about to go and do something utterly retarded like try one of the drugs I'd group into the category of "world's most dangerous drugs" (this entails heroin, cocaine, crack, meth-amphetamine, PCP, ketamine, and many others...) or if they were about to do something equally retarded with less dangerous drugs (IE, go off and eat acid before trying less intense drugs).

I think that's basically the attitude the film takes on. Its message really has nothing to do with drug-use. And, although they're a theme in his writing, I don't think HST ever really wrote a piece that was about drug-use. I think his attitude towards drugs was very indifferent.