Line #45 DrugsAreBad/WesternAnimation


1	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}''
2	** "[[Recap/BravestarrS1E26ThePrice The Price]]": the kid actually does overdose and ''die.'' Shocking for a cartoon of that era, it's one of the best and darkest episodes of the series. The episode goes even further by having his death by overdose come as a result of the batch his drugs came from being tainted, which was a second part to the warning that is TruthInTelevision about illegal drugs.
3	** Of course, the message couldn't have been made clearer any time Tex-Hex's stooge Scuzz showed his face. Likely the most unpleasant villain on the show, he was a guy who smoked large, smelly cigars, and was always coughing badly because of them. Even the other villains were repulsed by him and his habit. (Of course, a kid's show like this is more than likely going to portray smoking as bad when they portray it at all.)
4	* The ''WesternAnimation/CapitolCritters'' episode "Opie's Choice" deals with a squirrel named Opie who is addicted to pep pills that make him to stay awake at all times, have big baggy bloodshot eyes, and in order to get them he sells everything he owns. In that same episode, Max is captured by the drug dealers, who [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer force an entire bottle of the pills down his throat]], putting him in a coma and almost killing him as a result.
5	* Several episodes of ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'', including the memorable "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteersS2E1MindPollution Mind Pollution]]" in which Linka became addicted to drugs after eating one slipped into a pastry, and her cousin died due to an overdose.
6	* ''WesternAnimation/CartoonAllStarsToTheRescue'', an animated special featuring cartoon characters from several different shows. It's the same thing with ''[[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones The Flintstone]] [[SpinOffBabies Kids]]'' "Just Say No".
7	* The ''WesternAnimation/COPS1988'' episode "The Case of the Lowest Crime" deals with this trope. A new villain called Addictum who deals in a skin-absorbed drug called [[FantasticDrug Crystal Twist]] tries to form an alliance with Big Boss. Big Boss refuses, saying that, despite making money in the worst ways possible, [[EvenEvilHasStandards he would never stoop so low as to deal in drugs]], seeing as drugs kill. He even warns his henchmen to never ever take drugs, to which they reply that they might be stupid, but not that stupid. When Big Boss' nephew Beserko is hospitalized by accidentally overdosing (he fell into a crate of the stuff), Big Boss and his gang help the cops capture him.
8	* ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'':
9	** In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', there is a slight {{subver\|tedTrope}}sion in the episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE12ItsNeverTooLate It's Never Too Late]]". It's true that only the downsides to drug addiction are shown, but the episode focuses on the dealer himself and treats him with just as much sympathy and realism as every other villain they produce.
10	** Depicted in a fairly believable fashion in a {{Superhero}} and ScienceFiction context in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' without being {{Anvilicious}}. In the "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS1E5TheWinningEdge The Winning Edge]]", a leading school sports team is using a [[FantasticDrug super-steroid]] based on the supervillain Bane's "Venom" chemical in skin induction applications called "slappers". It makes the kids stronger, but [[PsychoSerum at a price of excessive aggression and profound weakness in withdrawal]] as their dependency grows. Furthermore, when Batman goes to question the aged Bane about it, he finds him in a senior's home, [[DarkLordOnLifeSupport a complete vegetable totally dependent on Venom to stay alive]]; the natural result of using it for decades. (Sad RealitySubtext here: [[Creator/RobertSwenson Robert "Jeep" Swenson]], the actor who played Bane in ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', died at 40 as a result of severe steroid abuse.)
11	* In the ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth'' episode "The Deadliest Battle", both Rick and Kshin are (separately) offered drugs. However, while Kshin has the guts to refuse, Rick, who has recently (in universe) been under a lot of stress, quickly succumbs to temptation. As a result of taking the drugs, Rick's behaviour becomes erratic and his ability to make decisions is impaired. And, when Kshin tries to confront him about the drugs, Rick uncharacteristically snaps at the youngster to mind his own business. It takes Kshin's [[DisneyDeath apparent death]] at the hands of a super-charged Ming to bring Rick to his senses and get him to take the first step towards quitting drugs.
12	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'': Bean has a drug-induced vision where she sees Elfo's ([[GirlfriendInCanada made-up]]) girlfriend, which leads to her kidnapping an innocent giant and accidentally forcing her to act like Elfo's girlfriend for a few days. Even after the truth comes to light, it takes her a second to figure it out.
13	-->'''Bean:''' No, but I had a vision and -- oh, drugs ''are'' bad.
14	* According to ''WesternAnimation/TheDrugAvengers'', an obscure and [[DerangedAnimation very weird]] educational cartoon recently exhumed by ''Website/EverythingIsTerrible'' (and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k-_6D9rhCw&t=164s is now on]] Website/YouTube), [[SpaceWhaleAesop the reason Earth will not be able to join the Galactic Federation in the future]] is because you smoked a joint at that outdoor Music/{{Radiohead}} concert.
15	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
16	** In the episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS3E1TheThinWhiteLine The Thin White Line]]", Brian gets hooked on cocaine. While we don't see his withdrawal, we do see the terrible effects coke has on him -- wild mood swings, paranoia, etc. Dogs, don't do drugs.
17	** {{Subverted\|Trope}}, in that Brian smokes weed and it isn't really shown as a bad thing. As do Peter, Lois, and the Evil Monkey. Even Meg has good connections.
18	** And Peter/Carter sell Meg a bag. Then clock her and steal it back.
19	** [[DoubleSubversion Double-subverted]] in the episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS7E12Episode420 420]]". At first, the characters sing a musical number extolling marijuana, and make a successful argument to legalize it. At which point the law is passed, and ''everyone is completely stoned all the time'' with a few exceptions, to the point where society basically freezes. Apparently in the world of ''Family Guy'', there's no room for "responsible moderation".
20	** Played straight in another episode where Brian overdoses on magic mushrooms and has a bad trip, complete with hallucinations, chills, et cetera.
21	** In another episode, Peter and Lois smoke pot for a talent show because they used to do so when they had a music act in their youth, and they believe that their best songs were inspired by it. While at first, they appear to give an amazing performance to rounding applause, they are later shocked to learn that they lost... whereupon Chris comes in and informs them that they were "so stoned out" that they were nowhere near as good as they thought, in fact they were babbling, incoherent and disturbingly manic. He proceeds to give them a speech on the dangers of marijuana use and how the chief ingredient of marijuana is a type of acid, so prolonged use of the drug can cause brain damage. It's mostly PlayedForLaughs, albeit because [[HiddenDepths it's]] ''[[TheDitz Chris]]'' who's eloquently explaining this.
22	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstoneKids'' "Just Say No" special shows Wilma joining a group of cool kids, the leader of which, Stoney, wanting her and his other friends to use drugs, which Wilma doesn't want to do. Her friends advise her to talk to her parents, who explain to her that drugs not only hurt your body but make it hard for you to think straight and that it's better to avoid being friends with someone who want you to do something that can get you in a lot of trouble. Taking her parents' advice, Wilma says no when Stoney insists she go along with him and his friends, and she even suggests to her own friends that they start their own Just-Say-No club, just like Freddy's cool cousin in Hollyrock. Near the end of the special, not only Stoney's friends desert him because his drugs have caused a lot of trouble for them, but he's arrested by Officer Quartz, which makes Stoney wish he could've said no to drugs.
23	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
24	** In [[Recap/FuturamaS1E1SpacePilot3000 the pilot episode]], after Fry loses an arcade game, rather than the standard "Winners don't use drugs" message from real arcade games, the message says, "Winners don't play video games".
25	** {{Parodied\|Trope}} in "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E4LessThanHero Less Than Hero]]", where Fry and Leela use Zoidberg's "Miracle Cream" to give themselves superpowers, including super-strength and speed (but not [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman the ability to control sea creatures]]). The powers are temporary, however, causing them to keep returning to the (apparently unique) tube of Miracle Cream. Shenanigans ensue when they run out. At the end of the episode, we are reminded in song that ''[[BrokenAesop Winners don't use drugs!]]''
26	** Also [[FridgeBrilliance hilariously subverted]] by Fry in his typical {{Cloudcuckoolander}} fashion in "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E19GhostInTheMachines Ghost in the Machines]]":
27	--->''"Heroes don't do drugs! Except for Drug Man, I guess."''
28	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/GalaxyHigh'', Doyle takes "brainblasters" from a dealer to make him smarter and pass his classes, he soon becomes addicted to them and as a side effect he has big baggy eyes and zones out at the most inappropriate times, eventually he spends all his money and resorts to stealing from his friends to get more, eventually they get him to admit he has a problem after he goes to a planet that criminals hang out and returns their stuff, and he finds out that if he continued to use the stuff he could end up in prison.
29	* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' has an episode where the Joes [[EnemyMine team up with COBRA]] to take down a drug lord after [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes a COBRA agent's sister]] gets hospitalized due to the drug lord's new product, "[[FantasticDrug Sparkle]]". Cobra Commander only gets involved when the agent persuades him that, since drugs are big business, [[PragmaticVillainy the drug lord is sure to have piles of cash on hand to steal]]. In a rare scene from a show heavy on the BloodlessCarnage, the drug lord gets dropped into a vat of pure Spark and dies from a horrific overdose. It also turns out that the drug lord's bags of "cash" were really bags of shredded newspaper.
30	* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'':
31	** In "A Friend In Need", the villain Jarvan gets a girl named Ileena addicted to a drug. She almost gets herself and Prince Adam killed when she attempts to drive while high. Also, she becomes willing to assist Jarvan in his plans in order to get more of the drug. Eventually, she managed to beat the addiction and helped defeat Jarvan.
32	** In "The Eternia Flower", Count Marzo cultivates a special flower called the Black Nightmare that has an intoxicating and addictive scent. He gets a boy named Jahno hooked on it so that he would assist him in his plan to lure other children in. While high, Jahno nearly killed himself by playing on top of a high wall. Marzo planned to addict all the children so that they would obey him and serve as his army. Jahno beats the addiction and turns on Marzo when he sees what the flower has done to his little brother Chad.
33	* {{Parodied\|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/HomeMovies''. Coach [=McGuirk=], through a bout of InsaneTrollLogic, comes to the conclusion Brendon is using drugs and dismisses Brendon's truthful denial of using drugs because "denial is the first step of admitting you have a problem". After screwing up an intervention, Coach [=McGuirk=] admits to Brendan that he made it up as part of a hairbrained scheme to motivate the kids.
34	* "Alone Again" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' fits this trope. Laura, the newest Starlight Girl, is so depressed over her parents' deaths that she's easy prey for a drug dealer. Within a minute of taking a pill she has an intense hallucination and tries to jump out of a window thinking she can fly. She becomes addicted within a few weeks but quits after learning Bobby is a FalseFriend who repeats the same thing to every girl he wants to buy drugs. Pity about the {{Anvilicious}} Aesop, since the first five minutes describing Laura's self-hate and loneliness are an ''intense'' TearJerker.
35	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Lastman}}'':
36	** The new drug "sector" and its increasing use in Paxtown are one of the background scenaristic threads.
37	** In episodes "Action!" and "Restez avec nous sur [=PaxNews=]", two sector's addicts take the main characters hostage in a mall.
38	* An episode of ''Literature/TheLittles'', appropriately entitled "Prescription for Disaster", plays this straight in a surprisingly realistic manner for a Saturday morning cartoon. Also unique in that it calls out [[ParentsAsPeople parents who use drugs]].
39	* "Mojo Jonesin'", an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'', uses [[PsychoSerum tainted Chemical X]] as an allegory for drug use, but otherwise plays this trope straight. Mojo Jojo, a clear metaphor for a drug dealer, gives a diverse group of kids the aforementioned tainted Chemical X, which gives them superpowers, on the condition that they fight and defeat the Powerpuff Girls. Blossom even tells the kids that when dealing with people like Mojo, to "just say no-no". Doubles as a TooSmartForStrangers Aesop, as the kids use what happened as an example of why not to deal with strangers.
40	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'' has one of the suspects revealed to have a history with drugs. Every time the D-word was mentioned, the main characters (especially Scooby) express near-Pavlovian revulsion. It turns out that the suspect in question is still involved in smuggling drugs, despite having given an {{Anvilicious}} claim that he'd quit that stuff.
41	* ''WesternAnimation/RamboTheForceOfFreedom'' actually did an episode titled "Just Say No".
42	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
43	** The kids' favorite cartoon characters, Itchy and Scratchy, spend a whole episode doing little more than standing on the screen and tepidly fighting. They end the episode with the non-sequitur "Kids, say no to drugs!" Bart and Lisa decide it was a pretty lifeless outing.
44	** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E8BoyScoutzNTheHood Boy-Scoutz 'N the Hood]]": When Bart loses in the arcade game ''Panamanian Strongman'', the Game Over screen shows George Bush Sr. stating "Winners Don't Use Drugs" before kicking the Panamanian Strongman repeatedly in the head.
45	* Completely and utterly ripped into by ''WesternAnimation/SitDownShutUp''. The teachers decide that they need a scapegoat problem to lecture about for Parents' Day and decide to have an anti-drug conference sponsored by a prescription drug company. One of the teachers is declared the "drug czar" (for confiscating non-company drugs, ''including'' prescription drugs) and forced to quit drinking coffee, the negative effects of not taking prescription drugs are emphasized (including the principle going into a coma from various vital organs shutting down), and [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} one of the teachers]] mishears "Math Lab" (he had previously been taking anti-ear-blockage medication) and instead builds a ''meth'' lab. Everyone seemingly gets sick from the meth being accidentally left among the dipping sauces, which is censored for being "kind of gross", and it turns out that nobody had taken drugs at all and they got sick from the food. For TheStinger, after it being said that they never did have a chance to show that drugs are bad, shows the baby who had several times been referenced as a "permanent consequence" of using drugs sitting in the duffel bag full of meth bags... and its tooth falls out.
46	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheSmurfsS6E35LureOfTheOrb Lure of the Orb]]", Poet Smurf is given an orb by a witch named Allura. [[FantasticDrug When someone touches the orb, it helps them think and makes them more energetic]]. Poet, Painter, Handy, Harmony, and Farmer get addicted to its power, which makes them perform their work sloppily and have big bloodshot eyes. The other Smurfs realize they have a problem and have Papa Smurf take it away, but they take it back when he's asleep. When Hefty finds out he breaks it so they go back to Allura for more, but when they do, she makes them her slaves and tells them that they will become completely unable to function without the orb. Farmer manages to escape and brings Hefty with him to save the others and destroy the main orb. Once the effects have worn off the affected Smurfs realize how the orb affected them and how awful their work was while under the influence.
47	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has long {{parodied\|Trope}} the trope, with the protagonists being school-age kids and the [[AdultsAreUseless useless adults]] knowing that they have to steer the kids away from drugs but not knowing how or really ''why''. This leads to characters believing hilarious misconceptions about drugs, like the common MarijuanaIsLSD line. The show's actual stance on drugs like cannabis is that it's not so harmful as to be illegal across the board, but if all you're doing is [[TheStoner getting high]], you're not getting much else done -- so the best argument against drug abuse is just that it's not usually worthwhile.
48	** "[[Recap/SouthParkS2E4IkesWeeWee Ike's Wee-Wee]]" gives us the quote on the main page, coming from Mr. Mackey's scrambled attempts to tell the kids why they shouldn't use drugs. The main joke comes from him not having any ideas beyond "DrugsAreBad", but there's also a BrokenAesop to it. Mackey tells the kids that if you use drugs, you become a poor, depressed, homeless loser, when it's actually the other way around -- poor, depressed, homeless losers of all kinds start using drugs to cope with their lot. Then Mackey accidentally loses a cannabis plant among the students (Mr. Garrison stole it) and gets fired -- the loss of his job and the stigma of being a drug user turn him into [[SelfFulfillingProphecy poor, depressed, homeless loser who uses drugs to cope]]. The drugs ''help'' him, though; he sleeps with a hot hippie girl, marries her, honeymoons in India and has a spiritual reawakening, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking loosens his tie]] -- turns out he didn't have enough blood flow to his head. And when he finally felt he was happy and in control of his life, he stopped doing drugs because he didn't need them anymore. [[spoiler:When he tries to explain this to his rehabilitation counselor, she simply [[{{Brainwashed}} brainwashes]] him into once again believing that DrugsAreBad, because, well, [[BecauseISaidSo they just are, m'kay]].]] In all of this, he only ''kind of'' got through to the kids:
49	--->'''Cartman:''' Drugs are bad [[SpoofAesop because if you do drugs, you're a hippie and hippies suck]].
50	** "[[Recap/SouthParkS6E16MyFutureSelfNMe My Future Self 'n Me]]" was written in response to the creators spotting a poster claiming that smoking marijuana ''supports terrorism''.[[note]]The only possible explanation is that poor and hostile countries can profit from growing drugs. Maybe they're thinking of opium, because the vast majority of cannabis smoked in the United States is domestically grown.[[/note]] This evolved into Stan's parents going to extreme lengths to ScareEmStraight, to the point of hiring an actor to pretend [[MyFutureSelfAndMe he's Stan himself from the future]], a drug-addicted loser who needs to head off his past self before it's too late. It gets to the point of Stan's parents cutting off the actor's ''hand'' to maintain the ruse. In the end, Randy gets the message across much better by [[DeconReconSwitch just sitting down and talking honestly with Stan about drugs]].
51	* Done subtly in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', where Megatron frequently uses [[ArtifactOfDoom Dark Energon]] as a performance-enhancing drug. Aside from the more esoteric and supernatural side effects that come from it being the blood of [[SatanicArchetype Unicron]], there are familiar negative side effects, such as [[PsychoSerum heightened aggression, loss of rationality, and psychological dependence]]. Granted, these realistic performance-enhancers are mostly subtle due to being overshadowed by the DemonicPossession vulnerability, the raising zombies, and the [[spoiler:[[BarredFromTheAfterlife barring the user's soul from the afterlife]]]].
52	** Done more blatantly when Ratchet uses Synthetic Energon to similar (but more focused on) effect.
53	* Probably the only unattractive thing about Dr. Girlfriend on ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' is her [[VocalDissonance masculine, gravely voice]]. After a few seasons (and [[AmbiguousGender a lot of bad jokes]]), it's revealed to be the result of chain smoking.
54	* Used in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', where Superboy, a [[spoiler:half-]]clone of Superman with weaker powers, is offered "[[FantasticDrug Super Shields]]" which grant him full Kryptonian powers [[HourOfPower for an hour]], at the cost of [[PsychoSerum making him extremely violent, mindless, and angry]]. They're also addictive, though whether that's the actual shield's fault or the power they give is ambiguous. [[spoiler:Thankfully, Superboy realizes how dangerous the addiction is to him (especially since it makes him dependent on ''Luthor''), and comes clean of his own accord.]]

Context DrugsAreBad / WesternAnimation