"We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold." This line leads to a long, rambling speech that ends up being hilariously nonsensical, but the key part is that opening line. Once the drugs kick in at the beginning of the film, it's just one wild and crazy binge until the end credits roll. In fact, if we had to sum up Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in one line, it would probably have to be, "when the drugs began to take hold." It's a perfect microcosm of the entire film.