Ghost Drug

The new Ghostbusters movie doesn't open in Japan until the end of the week. While I wait, I've been thinking of other Ghostbusters matters. I recently saw a comedy video that trudged up the nitpick about Venkman giving Dana 300CCs of Thorazine. The winking assumption is that Venkman must have been planning to use it to take advantage of her. I really doubt anyone inferred this the first time they watched the movie. It's a bad faith criticism coming from a perverse rationale, frustrating because the people presenting it would call themselves the voices of sane morality.

I spent some time thinking of all the better explanations for why Venkman had the Thorazine, but then I realised there were probably plenty of people way ahead of me. Sure enough, there's a whole Reddit thread from six years ago. In fact, it was even explained in an IDW comic that Venkman wasn't carrying the Thorazine, it was a prescription drug he found in her apartment (one person on reddit comments that this explains why it looks like Venkman had ransacked Dana's bedroom). Thorazine is primarily an antipsychotic medication so perhaps that came from a diagnosis when Dana told her doctor she was seeing ghosts. It's also occasionally used to treat migraines, according to Wikipedia, so she may have had it for that reason also.

People have pointed out that 300CCs would be excessive and probably kill a human, though perhaps Venkman needed a superhuman amount to suppress Zuul.

It's also been pointed out that, as Venkman was not an MD, he wouldn't have had free access to Thorazine. Assuming it was his Thorazine and not Dana's, I can think of two explanations for why he'd have it. Remember, the proton packs are unlicensed nuclear devices. Who's to say the Ghostbusters wouldn't include illegal drugs among their arsenal, to be used for precisely the purpose Venkman uses it, to suppress a subject possessed by a demoniac entity? It seems like a scenario Ray and Egon would consider and maybe all of them routinely carry the drug. Another possibility I haven't seen discussed is that perhaps it was prescribed for Venkman. Thorazine is also used to treat bipolar disorder. Do we see Venkman exhibiting symptoms of mania throughout the film? How about when he starts singing in the jail cell, or his initial flirtation with Dana in her apartment?

Thorazine was used recreationally but it is not commonly used for date rape. That's hardly surprising since sedation is only a side effect and it also suppresses dopamine.