History Main / MistakenForJunkie

* The Suicidal Tendencies song "Institutionalized" has its focus character getting sent to an institution partly because of this trope.

* Happens twice in Literature/{{Dunk}}, first in chapter 19 where the cops mistake Chad and Jason for one since Jason was acting weird, and again in chapter 34 where [[spoiler:Anthony]] frames Chad for a dealer.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena,'' [[VideoGame/{{Persona 3}} Akihiko's]] tagline is "The Two-Fisted Protein Junkie" because of his insistence on a fighter's need for protein drinks. A South American bartender gets the wrong idea when Akihiko asks for a fix and mentions withdrawal.

* Goes badly in ''VisualNovel/KaraNoShoujo'' when Mizuhara Toko mistakes her friend Kuchiki's medication for drugs - and gets rid of it. This means that Kuchiki is without it when her condition begins to act up [[spoiler:and deliriously wanders into traffic where she passes out and gets hit by a truck]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* {{Inverted}} in [[WebVideo/KilianExperience Kilian Experience's]] Garbage Guide to [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Pokemon Black 2]]. The StarterMon given to the PlayerCharacter is a Scraggy with a cocaine addiction, which is repeatedly stressed by the detective agency to just be PokemonSpeak.

* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'': A cop finds a bottle of pills with "Mojo" written on it and assumes it's a new street drug; it's actually pain medication for Sam's dog.

* ''WebVideo/{{Smosh}}'': A running gag. An old man walks by, sees the duo's antics and bemoans "Friggin' bath salts!"

* ''Series/{{Smosh}}'': A running gag. An old man walks by, sees the duo's antics and bemoans "Friggin' bath salts!"

* An episode of ''Series/PeakPractice'' has a homeless diabetic who everyone assumes is the mother of an abandoned child. At one point she gets all her insulin supplies destroyed by a group of yobs.

Unfortunately TruthInTelevision and some groups are almost guaranteed to have encounters with it: diabetics, as mentioned, (due to the need for insulin injections); transgender people (due to the need for hormone injections and the status of androgens/testosterone and some estrogens as controlled substances); nocturnals or those with sleep phase disorder or those with hyperthyroidism as users of illegal stimulants (due to different sleeping patterns, and in the latter two, behavior that sometimes resembles stimulant users). Anyone who frequently has to have IV injections or blood work done will almost always get this, especially if they were unlucky enough to have encountered someone doing the injection/blood work so improperly as to give them a track mark. Legitimate pain patients and those legitimately taking a lot of psychotropic medications for mental illnesses are also often assumed to be junkies.

See also MistakenForSubculture. Contrast PlayingDrunk, where a character ''deliberately'' misleads others to think this.

* ''Fanfic/APrizeForThreeEmpires'': When ComicBook/CarolDanvers confesses she has developed a drinking problem, her mother Marie states she hopes she hasn't been doing drugs, too. Carol vehemently denies it.

Unfortunately TruthInTelevision and some groups are almost guaranteed to have encounters with it: diabetics, as mentioned, (due to the need for insulin injections); transgender people (due to the need for hormone injections and the status of androgens/testosterone and some estrogens as controlled substances); nocturnals or those with sleep phase disorder or those with hyperthyroidism as users of illegal stimulants (due to different sleeping patterns, and in the latter two, behavior that sometimes resembles stimulant users). Anyone who frequently has to have IV injections or blood work done will almost always get this, especially if they were unlucky enough to have encountered someone doing the injection/blood work so improperly as to give them a track mark. Legitimate pain patients and those legitimately taking a lot of psychotropic medications for mental illnesses are also often assumed to be junkies because they're taking lots of pills/other medications, never mind that is to keep them alive and (somewhat) well.

* In ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/347784/of-butterflies-and-trees Of Butterflies and Trees]]'', a couple of stallions make fun of Tree Hugger and ask her where she keeps her weed. Despite her NewAgeRetroHippie persona and [[GRatedStoner attitude]], Tree Hugger actually doesn't use drugs, because she dislikes what they to do her.
* ''Fanfic/OfGemstonesAndWatches'': When Roman Torchwick asks a random cop for directions to a Dust store, the cop thinks that he's talking about PCP.

* On ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'', when Marisol is planning a trip for her and her boyfriend Mo and needs to fill out a travel insurance form, he won't let her fill it out for him. She gets paranoid and goes through his bag, finding needles. Marisol assumes that he is a junkie (despite the fact that she doesn't even know what drug uses needles) until she finds out he's diabetic.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/SlayersTrilogy'', Amelia's reaction when Lina explains they've been given a quest by the [[{{God}} Lord of Nightmares]] itself is shouting her friend is doing drugs. When Lina denies the accusation, Amelia replies that's exactly what a junkie would say.

* When Series/{{Dexter}} is caught in his web of lies at one point and thinks he is going to be exposed as a {{serial killer|Killer}}, instead it is assumed that he is a drug addict. [[SureLetsGoWithThat He goes along with it.]]

** In ''ComicBook/Supergirl1984'', [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Linda Lee]], Jimmy Olsen and Lucy Lane see Ethan stumbling dizzily across the street. Unaware that the poor lad is feeling sick due to drinking one of [[EvilSorcerer Selena]]'s potions, Jimmy guesses he is probably on drugs.