History Main / HighTimesFuture

RealLife has wavered on this. On one hand, the '80s and '90s marked the height of the War on Drugs, which led to this trope being {{discredited|Trope}} and {{forgotten|Trope}} for a long time. During this time, DrugsAreBad became the official line of the government, the MoralGuardians, and any non-underground writers who didn't want to face protest from both. Backlash against the War on Drugs in the '10s, which resulted in marijuana legalization becoming a subject of serious, mainstream political discussion, could see it make a comeback, though this has also gone hand-in-hand with a growing push against tobacco use (see above re: the ironic use of this trope). It will always remain the occasional AuthorAppeal topic, of course, the most common argument being, "if drugs were legal, they'd be too cheap to commit crimes over."

** There are multiple reference to cocaine being sold legally: In "My Three Suns", a junkie tries to buy crack from a vending machine that sells "Refreshing Crack" (but the bottle catches on the spring). The episode "Three Hundred Big Boys" has the same junkie say "No more cheap crack-houses for me!", and head for a huge building with a large sign reading "CRACK MANSION".

* ''TabletopGame/OverTheEdge'' - Not only are drugs legal in Al Amarja, but there are some gloriously weird examples of FantasticDrug too.

* Humorously played with in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures novel ''Alien Bodies'': Sam Jones, in the near future and surrounded by aliens, focuses on a cigarette packet as a "normal" thing. Then she notices it says "CLOUD NINE -- The original cannabis cigarette". As smoked by UNISYC troopers. When she mentions the one time she got stoned, the future soldier the cigarettes belong to replies "One time? Are you ''sure'' you're human?"

* Humorously played in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures novel ''Alien Bodies'': Sam Jones, in the near future and surrounded by aliens, focuses on a cigarette packet as a "normal" thing. Then she notices it says "CLOUD NINE -- The original cannabis cigarette". As smoked by UNISYC troopers. When she mentions the one time she got stoned, the future soldier the cigarettes belong to replies "One time? Are you ''sure'' you're human?"

* ''Literature/BugJackBarron'': Jack's talk show is sponsored primarily by Acapulco Golds, "America's Premium Marijuana Cigarettes" ([[SocietyMarchesOn the book was written when cigarette ads were still legal on U.S. television]]). Tobacco is illegal.

* ''You Look Like Death: Tales From The ComicBook/UmbrellaAcademy'' implies drugs are legal in this universe as Klaus buys his from a kiosk with a neon sign saying "Drugs".

** Bizarrely given the last point, marijuana seems to be still illegal, as Hermes makes frequent references to "flushing things", and "that's not a cigar...and it's not mine"; in the election episode, there's also a lobby for the legalization of hemp.

* In the second season of ''[[Series.WarOfTheWorlds War of the Worlds]]'', set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: narcotics have been recently legalized, but this is presented as a symptom of the societal collapse that is in progress.

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* ''Series/TheOrville'': Marijuana is openly accepted in the 25th century, to the point that people freely order pot brownies from the food replicator. Additionally, it is implied that Kelly is a frequent user of particularly strong marijuana, and yet she is still a ranking Commander and first officer of the titular spaceship.[[/folder]]

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* WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}} - due to the titular city not really having any laws. There's even a monster, [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/jitter.htm Jitter]], specifically made for dispensing narcotics.

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* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', drugs are mentioned regularly. Red Sand and Hallex are both illegal narcotics of some kind (the former sounds like [[RecycledINSPACE space cocaine]] and the latter like [[RecycledINSPACE space ecstasy]]), and there's a substance called Minagen X3 encountered in a mission that makes your biotics unstable if you come in contact with it. Red Sand is related to minagen since they are both biotic inducing agents; red sand also melts your brain like minagen. Hallex isn't really illegal... what with it being Omega and all. You can also legally purchase Red Sand on Illium from a licensed provider.\\

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' swings back and forth on the issue of drug legality in its future setting, depending on [[RuleOfFunny which is funnier.]] Bender smokes and drinks constantly. The alcohol is [[Main/JustifiedTrope justified]] in that robots use it as fuel, and Bender will act "drunk" if he hasn't had a drink in a while. As for the cigars, "[[SmokingIsCool they make me look cool]]." The existence of other drugs is suggested. In "My Three Suns", for example, a junkie tries to buy crack from a vending machine that sells "Refreshing Crack" (but the bottle catches on the spring), and in "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television", Farnsworth's and Hermes' kids are caught with one of Hermes' "cigars".
** Bizarrely, cocaine seems to be legal, as it is openly sold in vending machines. However, marijuana seems to be still illegal, as Hermes makes frequent references to "flushing things", and "that's not a cigar...and it's not mine"; in the election episode, there's also a lobby for the legalization of hemp. The episode "Three Hundred Big Boys" has the same junkie say "No more cheap crack-houses for me!", and head for a huge building with a large sign reading "CRACK MANSION".

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* In the alternate reality of ''Literature/JenniferGovernment'' where the United States has become a global empire but its government is kept purposely underfunded, all drugs are legal and you can get them at the supermarkets.

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' swings back and forth on the issue of drug legality in its future setting, depending on [[RuleOfFunny which is funnier.]] Bender smokes and drinks constantly. The alcohol is [[Main/JustifiedTrope justified]] in that robots use it as fuel, and Bender will act "drunk" if he hasn't had a drink in a while. As for the cigars, "[[SmokingIsCool they make me look cool]]." The existence of other drugs is suggested. In "My Three Suns", for example, a junkie tries to buy crack from a vending machine that sells "Refreshing Crack" (but the bottle catches on the spring), and in "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television", Farnsworth's and Hermes' kids are caught with one of Hermes' "cigars".\\
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Bizarrely, cocaine seems to be legal, as it is openly sold in vending machines. However, marijuana seems to be still illegal, as Hermes makes frequent references to "flushing things", and "that's not a cigar...and it's not mine"; in the election episode, there's also a lobby for the legalization of hemp. The episode "Three Hundred Big Boys" has the same junkie say "No more cheap crack-houses for me!", and head for a huge building with a large sign reading "CRACK MANSION".\\
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One episode shows that there exists an AlternateUniverse called "Universe 420." It is only glimpsed for a few seconds, but from the glimpsed imagery (stoners dressed like it's TheSeventies), the universe's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin name]], and the context of the rest of the episode, we can infer that this universe is a PlanetOfHats where everyone is TheStoner; and that it is just as real as the "Universe A" where the primary characters live, and has a [[InSpiteOfANail similar history to the primary universe]], containing stoner equivalents of Farnsworth, Amy, and presumably all of the characters from Universe A.\\

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One episode shows that there exists an alternate universe called "Universe 420." It is only glimpsed for a few seconds, but from the glimpsed imagery (stoners dressed like it's TheSeventies), the universe's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin name]], and the context of the rest of the episode, we can infer that this universe is a PlanetOfHats where everyone is TheStoner; and that it is just as real as the "Universe A" where the primary characters live, and has existed for thousands of years, containing stoner equivalents of Farnsworth, Amy, and presumably all of the characters from Universe A.\\

Bizarrely, cocaine seems to be legal, as it is openly sold in vending machines. However, marijuana seems to be still illegal, as Hermes makes frequent references to "flushing things", and "that's not a cigar...and it's not mine"; in the election episode, there's also a lobby for the legalization of hemp. The episode "Three Hundred Big Boys" has the same junkie say "No more cheap crack-houses for me!", and head for a huge building with a large sign reading "CRACK MANSION".

One episode shows that there exists an alternate universe called "Universe 420." It is only glimpsed for a few seconds, but from the glimpsed imagery (stoners dressed like it's TheSeventies), the universe's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin name]], and the context of the rest of the episode, we can infer that this universe is a PlanetOfHats where everyone is TheStoner; and that it is just as real as the "Universe A" where the primary characters live, and has existed for thousands of years, containing stoner equivalents of Farnsworth, Amy, and presumably all of the characters from Universe A.

* Common throughout the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}}'' setting. The game itself occasionally has units that can take drugs to gain some effects, although obviously general usage and legality aren't entirely relevant in a battle situation. The literature contains a huge variety of drugs of all stages of legality though.

* ''VideoGame/Rimworld'' has a variety of drugs that you can manufacture. Most of them are clearly BlandNameProduct versions of real-world narcotics, with the exception of [[http://rimworldwiki.com/wiki/Go-juice "Go-Juice"]], a futuristic combat drug that increases pain tolerance, boosts awareness and increases mobility. The drawback is that it's ''extremely'' addictive, with ugly withdrawal symptoms, and overuse will eventually cause brain damage.

* TabletopGame/{{Mortasheen}} - due to the titular city not really having any laws. There's even a monster, [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/jitter.htm Jitter]], specifically made for dispensing narcotics.

* ''{{Transmetropolitan}}'', which leans heavily on the science fiction of this era for inspiration and setting, runs on this trope. It seems like everyone does drugs all the time. It helps that they can fix any potential health effect. They're still illegal; it's just that almost nobody cares. They're still not good for you either, if certain descriptions of Spider's really bad days are to be taken at face value.

This is somewhere between a {{Discredited|Trope}} and a ForgottenTrope these days, what with DrugsAreBad having been {{enforced|Trope}} in recent years. Could come back as marijuana legalization gets more discussion, or remain the occasional AuthorAppeal topic; the most common being, "If drugs were legal, they'd be too cheap to commit crimes over."