What is the main conflict in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson?

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas tells the story of Hunter S. Thompson's journey to Las Vegas in 1971 as a journalist for a sports magazine. Thompson is accompanied by his "attorney," a Samoan whose only counsel seems to consist of recommending drugs. Indeed, Thompson's assignment is only an excuse for the pair to rent a red Chevy convertible and scream off into the desert with a trunk full of illegal narcotics.