When the smoke clears is the story of three childhood friends and the year that will dramatically change their lives. The story opens with a flashback to the first time the three try drugs, and then zooms forward to them in their current setting as roommates. The story follows each one down their separate paths, Chris struggles to stay sane in his current surrounding, Shawn becomes more and more a drug addict, and Raymond becomes more ruthless as he loses ties to family.