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'Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

(Jaimie Trueblood / New Line Cinema)

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Iconic drug movies

'Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

By Patrick Day and Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

Stoners rejoice!

With movies like "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" and "Friday" being successful enough to span sequels (including the forthcoming "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay") the stoner movie has officially gone mainstream. And along with the official embrace of the subgenre, come several iconic movies; movies that all aspiring stoner hits look to as inspiration for drug-addled glory.

But as all of us who took seventh grade health class remember, marijuana is just a gateway drug, the first step on the path to harder and more dangerous drugs. If that's true, then perhaps the stoner movie is but a gateway subgenre, leading us on to other and more varied drug movies. And from each drug subgenre, iconic movies must rise. Which begs the question: which movies best capture the drugs they choose to align themselves with?