History Main / FakeHigh

* In ''Series/ICarly2021'' episode "i'M Wild and Crazy", Carly asks Harper to take her out for a wild night, drugs, alcohol and so forth. Harper gives Carly a drug called "ACD" and Carly spends the night drinking and doing crazy stuff such as kissing a stranger and getting a tattoo. After they get placed in mall jail, Carly takes a breathalyzer test and her blood alcohol level is 0.0. Harper reveals that she ordered non-alcoholic drinks for Carly and the ACD pill was just a multivitamin. As a bonus, they guy she kissed was Harper's dentist and the tattoo was temporary.

* In ''Series/ICarly2021'' episode "i'M Wild and Crazy", Carly asks Harper to take her out for a wild night, drugs, alcohol and so forth. Harper gives Carly a drug called "ACD" and Carly spends the night drinking and doing crazy stuff such as kissing a stranger and getting a tattoo. After they get placed in mall jail, Carly takes a breathalyzer test and her blood alcohol level is 0.0. Harper reveals that she ordered non-alcoholic drinks for Carly and the ACD pill was just a multivitamin. As a bonus, they guy she kissed was Harper's dentist and the tattoo was temporary

* Happens in ''Film/{{Eurotrip}}'' when two characters walk into a Jamaican coffee shop in Amsterdam and order what they think are hash brownies. They're just regular ones.

See also ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin and DrunkOnMilk, for when this isn't an accident. If a character deliberately pretends to be drunk[=/=]high, they're PlayingDrunk. Compare BeatBag, fake drugs and other substances which don't necessary produce a placebo high.

-->-- '''Naoto''', ''VideoGame/Persona4''

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'', Nick Diamond gets some hemp clothing from Woody Harrelson; unfortunately, the clothes catch fire, and after inadvertently getting a face full of smoke, Nick spends the rest of the episode stoned out of his gourd. Hemp, of course, is not the same thing as marijuana and does not contain THC[[note]]Actually, it contains only trace amounts of THC, usually no more than 0.2 to 0.3 percent, which is the legal limit for growing industrial hemp[[/note]], and when Harrelson points this out at the end of the episode, Nick is very embarrassed (he is naked and playing the bongos at this point).

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'', Nick Diamond gets some hemp clothing from Woody Harrelson; unfortunately, the clothes catch fire, and after inadvertently getting a face full of smoke, Nick spends the rest of the episode stoned out of his gourd. Hemp, of course, is not the same thing as marijuana and does not contain THC[[note]]Actually, it contains only trace amounts of THC, usually no more than 0.3 percent, which is the legal limit for growing industrial hemp[[/note]], and when Harrelson points this out at the end of the episode, Nick is very embarrassed (he is naked and playing the bongos at this point).

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* In ''Blotto'', Creator/LaurelAndHardy get drunk off a bottle of liquor that's actually tea put there by Stanley's wife.
* In ''Film/FiftyFirstDates'' Creator/AdamSandler's [[TheCasanova character]] will often give his dates large drinks which he ''says'' are alcoholic, but really aren't. He's found that this way the women [[ButLiquorIsQuicker get just as slutty as they would if they were actually drunk]], but still retain all their motor skills when having sex.
* In ''Film/TheBirdcage'', Albert believes that the "Pirin tablets" that Agador gives him actually calm him down. Guess what two letters Agador scratches off the tablets? That's right, they're really just aspirin.

* On ''Series/MurphyBrown'', Corky throws a New Year's Eve party and makes it a point not to serve any alcohol (if a guest brought a bottle, she gave it to the party next door), as Murphy is a recovering alcoholic. Miles drinks some of the punch and acts drunk - until Corky tells him there was no alcohol in it.

* In ''Series/TheInbetweeners'' Will swallows a quantity of hash without first preparing it for consumption. Despite this it still has some strange effects on him, mostly making his arms twitch.

* In ''Series/ADifferentWorld'' Season 2 episode, "If You Like Pilgrim Coladas", Whitley and Kim go to a bar with a fake ID and are found out when they act drunk after several of the eponymous drink, which contains no alcohol.

* ''Series/NCISNewOrleans''. Tall and skinny Sebastian kicks the ass of a guy twice his size, assuming it's because of the high from a seasickness medication another agent gave him. It turns out the medication was a placebo and he did it all on his own.
* On an episode of ''Series/TheHoneymooners'', Ralph and Ed get extremely 'drunk' off of wine that was actually switched out for grape juice.

* ''Webcomic/GirlsWithSlingshots'': After Hazel gets uncharacteristically prudish while accompaniying Jamie and her younger sister, Fiona on a trip to a lingerie store, Fiona offers Hazel a pull from her [[VictoriasSecretCompartment hidden flask]]. Hazel goes from mortified to GenkiGirl after a couple of swallows. Fiona confesses to Jamie that her flask [[http://www.girlswithslingshots.com/comic/gws-1294/ was just water.]] [[IHaveBoobsYouMustObey Her boobs are just that awesome.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
** In one CutawayGag, Stewie thought he had drunk some alcohol but it was only grape juice.
** When all the family were beating each other up Brian gave everyone some of his "prescription" Happy Pills and everyone blissed out. Once Brian revealed that they were only sugar pills they went back to fighting each other.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': Unfortunately the victim of the prank was allergic to oregano.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'', the duo get drunk on non-alcoholic beer. They knew it was non-alcoholic, they just didn't know alcohol is the part that makes you drunk.
-->'''Police:''' Hey, you guys aren't drunk! You're just stupid!
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'', Nick Diamond gets some hemp clothing from Woody Harrelson; unfortunately, the clothes catch fire, and after inadvertently getting a face full of smoke, Nick spends the rest of the episode stoned out of his gourd. Hemp, of course, is not the same thing as marijuana and does not contain THC[[note]]Actually, it contains only trace amounts of THC, usually no more than 0.3 percent, which is the legal limit for growing industrial hemp[[/note]], and when Harrelson points this out at the end of the episode, Nick is very embarrassed (he is naked and playing the bongos at this point).

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': In "Bad Tina" Tina's new friend, 'bad girl' Tammy, invites herself over when the parents are out, along with Jimmy Jr. and Zeke. She sneaks a bottle of margarita mix from the liquor cabinet and proceeds to party. The kids are getting high, but mostly from a sugar buzz -- Louise says her mom uses the stuff as hummingbird food.
* ''WesternAnimation/OutThere'' has an episode where Chris takes a bunch of (what he thinks is) high-grade Mexican aphrodisiacs, and spends the majority of the episode running around without pants. They were actually just multivitamins.

* A RunningGag in ''Discworld/TheTruth''. Mr. Tulip is constantly snorting various substances, but none of them are actually drugs. Many of them are quite unhealthy household chemicals, however.

Related to MagicFeather (which is what The Placebo Effect is called around here).

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' combines this with IntoxicationEnsues(the inversion). Niles gets a hash brownie, but Martin eats it without realising what it is, and replaces it with a normal brownie. And even when Frasier actually explains what happened, Niles ''still'' doesn't realise:

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': Tina's new friend, 'bad girl' Tammy, invites herself over when the parents are out, along with Jimmy Jr. and Zeke. She sneaks a bottle of margarita mix from the liquor cabinet and proceeds to party. The kids are getting high, but mostly from a sugar buzz -- Louise says her mom uses the stuff as hummingbird food.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'', Nick Diamond gets some hemp clothing from Woody Harrelson; unfortunately, the clothes catch fire, and after inadvertently getting a face full of smoke, Nick spends the rest of the episode stoned out of his gourd. Hemp, of course, is not the same thing as marijuana and does not contain THC[[note]]Actually, it contains only trace amounts of THC, usually no more than 0.3 percent[[/note]], and when Harrelson points this out at the end of the episode, Nick is very embarrassed (he is naked and playing the bongos at this point).

* Referenced in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' when [[spoiler: Soul-Splice Vaarsuvius starts to behave in an evil manner, even though the soul splices can't actually affect their alignment. According to the fiends, "A good way to get a good person to do something horrible is to convince them they're not responsible for their actions."]] It's compared to someone drinking beer they didn't know was non-alcoholic and feeling drunk anyway because they expected to be.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'', Nick Diamond gets some hemp clothing from Woody Harrelson; unfortunately, the clothes catch fire, and after inadvertently getting a face full of smoke, Nick spends the rest of the episode stoned out of his gourd. Hemp, of course, is not the same thing as marijuana and does not contain THC[[note]]Actually, it contains only trace amounts of THC, usually less than 0.3 percent[[/note]], and when Harrelson points this out at the end of the episode, Nick is very embarrassed (he is naked and playing the bongos at this point).

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'', Nick Diamond gets some hemp clothing from Woody Harrelson; unfortunately, the clothes catch fire, and after inadvertently getting a face full of smoke, Nick spends the rest of the episode stoned out of his gourd. Hemp, of course, is not the same thing as marijuana and does not contain THC, and when Harrelson points this out at the end of the episode, Nick is very embarrassed (he is naked and playing the bongos at this point).

-->'''Niles:''' Well someone must feel pretty out of it, being the only one here who isn't completely burnt!\\

** Once in a CutawayGag where Stewie thought he had drunk some alcohol but it was only grape juice.
** Once when all the family were beating each other up Brian gave everyone some of his "prescription" Happy Pills and everyone blissed out, but once Brian revealed that they were only sugar pills they went back to fighting each other.

* Subverted in ''Film/AfterTheSunset''. FBI agent Stan gets drunk and laments to Max--the jewel thief he's been pursuing for years--that he's trashed his career and a potentially great relationship because of his obsession with catching him. Max takes pity on him and nurses him through the vicious hangover he suffers afterwards. At the end of the movie, Max orders the same drink Stan supposedly got drunk off of and realizes it contains no alcohol--Stan was faking his reaction so that Max would let his guard down and not realize that Stan was trailing him as he prepared for another heist.

See also ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin and DrunkOnMilk, for when this isn't an accident. If a character deliberately pretends to be drunk[=/=]high, they're PlayingDrunk.

* Zig-zagged in the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "The Ballad of Badbeard". Candace touches Orange Moss in the woods, which she was told causes wild hallucinations, and begins acting insane, "thinking" [[EverythingsBetterWithPlatypi Perry]] is a spy, imagining a sassy, anthropomorphic zebra calling her "Kevin", and confusing a self-destruct button for a vending machine. At the end of the episode, after her "recovery", her grandmother explains that it is actually ''Blue'' Moss that causes hallucinations, and that the only reason Candace was "crazy" was because of the "power of suggestion". Just then, [[HereWeGoAgain Candace touches some Blue Moss]].

->''"As I said...you haven't been drinking alcohol! [[OnlySaneMan Are you a pack of imbeciles]]!?"''
-->-- '''[[VideoGame/{{Persona 4}} Naoto]]''' trying to explain a few things...

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Peter getting drunk at Aunt May and Jonah Jameson Senior's wedding was retconned into this several issues later. He had about half a glass of actual champagne, but was so nervous about seeing Mary-Jane again that he never noticed his amused roommate was filling his glass with soda.

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* A RunningGag in ''Discworld/TheTruth''; Mr. Tulip is constantly snorting various substances, but none of them are actually drugs. Many of them are quite unhealthy household chemicals, however.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'': Maeby drinks some virgin martinis and thinks she's drunk. George Michael tries to explain that "virgin" means non-alcoholic, but the venture is fruitless.

-->'''Niles:''' Well someone must feel pretty out of it, being the only one here who isn't completely burnt!
-->'''Frasier:''' Oh, knock it off, you imbecile! You're as sober as I am!

* In one sketch on ''FrenchAndSaunders'', two teen girls sit in their room describing their LSD trip with vivid detail. It isn't until one friend realizes that her tab tastes minty that her companion lets slip that the pill was just a Tic-Tac.

* An episode of the 90s talk show parody ''NightStandWithDickDietrick'' had host Dick and his assistant Mueller trying out a new drug that was all the necessary drugs for a day in a single pill. Not knowing he took a placebo, Dick's first words after taking the pill: "Whoa! Did anyone else just see a cow fly by here?" Needless to say, it gets better.

* On ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', a Christmas sketch of "The Delicious Dish" had the hosts drunk on eggnog. That is until they discovered it was non-alcoholic eggnog.
** They also once went tripping on 'shrooms. Not psychedelic mushrooms, just your average supermarket mushrooms.

[[folder: Stand Up Comedy ]]

* The subject of a comedy routine by Creator/AdamSandler in which a partying guy keeps telling the host how ''awesome'' his (acid/weed/beer) is, only to be told it's none of those things (the beer was nonalcoholic).

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' Teddie, Yukiko, and Rise get utterly smashed at a nightclub while on a school trip... except Naoto informs you that the club doesn't even ''serve'' alcohol.

[[folder: Web Animation ]]

* One [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad e-mail]] has Strong Bad performing a science experiment of the effects of caffeine on Strong Sad. So he slips a spoonful of Sanka -- instant ''decaf'' -- into Strong Sad's orange juice, and Strong Sad instantly goes into a caffeinated blitz.
** Oddly subverted; Strong Sad didn't know ''anything'' was being slipped into his orange juice, so it can't be a placebo effect. Apparently his body is just ''that'' sensitive to caffeine.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

** In another strip Penelope related the story of how her female friends in college would get so drunk they'd make out with each other, all the time.
-->'''Faye''': I think you're confusing bisexuality with substance abuse.
-->'''Penelope''': No, but I think they were.

* [[Webcomic/TwoLumps Snooch]] made the mistake of watching a special on rock stars and copying their cocaine use ... [[http://twolumps.net/d/20070801.html sort of.]]
-->'''Eben''': Tell me you didn't actually SNORT an entire box of Pixie Stix from 1987.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

-->'''Cleo:''' This might be the beer talking--
-->'''Abe:''' I doubt it.
-->'''Cleo:''' But I think you're ''hot.''
** Also happens in the episode "Raisin the Stakes: A Rock Opera In Three Acts" which is about teens going wild and hippie after smoking... raisins. Unusual for this trope, the raisins are actually sold by an [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer Aggressive Drug Dealer]], who turns out to be [[spoiler: Special Guest Star Jack Black, who had been hired to raise sales for raisins]].

* Zig-zagged in the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "The Ballad of Badbeard." Candace touches Orange Moss in the woods, which she was told causes wild hallucinations, and begins acting insane, "thinking" [[EverythingsBetterWithPlatypi Perry]] is a spy, imagining a sassy, anthropomorphic zebra calling her "Kevin", and confusing a self-destruct button for a vending machine. At the end of the episode, after her "recovery," her grandmother explains that it is actually ''Blue'' Moss that causes hallucinations, and that the only reason Candace was "crazy" was because of the "power of suggestion." Just then, [[HereWeGoAgain Candace touches some Blue Moss]].
* In one episode, ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'' got drunk on non-alcoholic beer. They knew it was non-alcoholic, they just didn't know alcohol is the part that makes you drunk.
--> '''Police''': Hey, you guys arent drunk! You're just stupid!

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' - Tina's new friend, 'bad girl' Tammy, invites herself over when the parents are out, along with Jimmy Jr. and Zeke. She sneaks a bottle of margarita mix from the liquor cabinet and proceeds to party. The kids are getting high, but mostly from a sugar buzz - Louise says her mom uses the stuff as hummingbird food.
* ''OutThere'' had an episode where Chris takes a bunch of (what he thinks is) high-grade Mexican aphrodisiacs, and spends the majority of the episode running around without pants. They were actually just multivitamins.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* There's quite a bit of evidence that there is no such thing as a sugar high - it's all the placebo effect. A 1994 study found that mothers who thought their children had been given sugar reported more wild behavior (and hovered closer, and criticized more) than mothers who were told their children had been given unsweetened drinks, regardless of the actual activity levels of the children.