[[quoteright:200:[[Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/how_to_make_art_better_3420.jpg]]]]

-> ''"I don't need drugs to enjoy this! Just to enhance it!"''
-->-- '''Otto,''' ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons,'' "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS14E16ScuseMeWhileIMissTheSky 'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky]]"

There are works that some people on shows will insist are more entertaining, or make more sense, if you're watching/reading/listening to/playing it while under the influence of a mind-altering substance; be it alcohol, pot, acid, mushrooms, ecstasy, or whatever, man. Some people may say every work is better, but in general, there seems to be a select group of works that are claimed to be this way.

This usually happens with works [[QuirkyWork supposedly made when the creators were under the influence of the same substances]] regardless of their actual sobriety. Most often it's {{Stoner Flick}}s that get this or if it just has a [[TheStoner stoner]] character, especially an [[EruditeStoner erudite one]]. Works that use FauxSymbolism also receive this. It also happens with works that involve swirls of bright colors, strobe lights, laser lights, {{mushroom samba}}s, or {{Disney Acid Sequence}}s. Frequently, the work just has to involve something strange or out of the ordinary, so this is very common with fantasy and science fiction as well as works involving a MindScrew. Also possible with works that are supposedly aimed at kids but the [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids content calls this into question]]. [[GameShow Game shows]] from the 1970s -- particularly the original ''Series/MatchGame'' -- also fall under this due to their funky 70s-ness, raunchy humor and feel of intoxication (the way they were taped, the panel that week would often have drinks before the Thursday and Friday shows were taped, so they ''were'' under the influence, albeit in a non-pot way).

Whether or not the creators intentionally make it this way varies, as will whether or not [[WordOfGod they admit to it]] for several reasons. Doing so can lead to backlash from MoralGuardians and can cause problems for people under ContractualPurity because DrugsAreBad. However, this can be affected by ValuesDissonance which can lead to a FlipFlopOfGod. It can also lead to a MisaimedFandom, which can lead to the aforementioned problems but can also help how successful the work is leading to a ShrugOfGod.

This is a recurring joke among people who [=riff/recap/=]{{MST}} horrible movies online.

Often leads to an AlternateAesopInterpretation, EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory, or WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic.

[[NightmareFuel Generally not recommended]] with {{Horror}} films.

Oddly enough, this only occasionally overlaps with ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do with]] watching someone being stoned to death.

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!!Administrivia/InUniverseExamplesOnly:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}}'': At the end of ''How I Live Now'', Tom crashes at Bonnie's house and they watch ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine''. Tom doesn't understand any of it, so Bonnie tells him you're supposed to get high and watch the pretty pictures go by.
* Similar to the trope image example, a two-panel cartoon made for the ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'' story series has a Smurf staring at a dull picture Painter created with colored squares, who says "I know how to fix that", and in the next panel, he is smoking a joint, his eyes have turned green, and he says that the picture looks much better -- though this makes Painter upset that his picture has to be appreciated like this.
* ''Fanfic/ThePiratesverse'': In "An Adventure With Dracula", the Pirate With Gout comments that ''Theatre/TheMagicFlute'' is far easier to watch if one has a few drinks beforehand.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/HalfBaked'' has the Enhancement Smoker, a character based entirely around this concept. The best part is how well he's played by Creator/JonStewart, and how many fans think this trope applies to the ''Series/TheDailyShow'' and ''Series/TheColbertReport''.
-->'''Enhancement Smoker:''' You ever see the back of a twenty-dollar bill... on weed? Oh, there's some crazy shit, man. There's a dude in the bushes. Has he got a gun? I dunno! RED TEAM GO, RED TEAM GO.
* Used in ''Film/KnockedUp'' -- when the guys go to Las Vegas, Pete brings along some psychedelic mushrooms and they deliberately save them for when they go to see Creator/CirqueDuSoleil's ''Theatre/{{Mystere}}''. The experience ''is'' awesome at first, but by the end the drugs turn on Ben and he freaks out. (The commentary on the [=DVD=] notes that Cirque had no problem with their work being used in the context of this trope!)
* Creator/WoodyAllen displays a dim view of this in ''Film/AnnieHall'' when a California party guest says "You ever see [[Creator/JeanRenoir Renoir's]] ''[[Film/TheGrandIllusion Grand Illusion]]''? It's hilarious when you're stoned!"
* Invoked in ''Film/SuperTroopers'' when the guys use some confiscated pot to help them look for "evidence" in tapes of the Afghani-produced Johnny Chimpo cartoon.
%%* A common activity of the title character of ''Film/{{Ted}}''.
* ''Film/MacAndDevinGoToHighSchool'' opens with an animated talking joint named Slowburn who actually acknowledges the audience and invites them to light one up before watching. When WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows and WebVideo/TheRapCritic reviewed the movie, they pointed out that "watch it stoned" is ''not'' typically a compliment, and that a ''good'' StonerFlick should be one that's still funny and entertaining even if you're not high.
* ''Flim/AnEveningWithKevinSmith2:EveningHarder'', Creator/KevinSmith has a hilarious bit about how ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'' is perfect to watch while stoned.
* ''[[Film/BioDome Bio-Dome]]'' opens with a disclaimer reading "Don't watch this film unless you're really, really high."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', Everything's Better On Hashish, according to protagonist Edmond Dantes, the eponymous Count, who delivers a flowery speech to Franz extolling its virtues with much hyperbole. Among the things that are Better On Hashish is, apparently, suicide, or so he convinces a depressed [[spoiler:Maximilien Morrel]] towards the end of the book.
* In his non-fiction book ''Danse Macabre'', Creator/StephenKing mentions that he made a grave mistake by getting stoned before watching ''Film/RobotMonster'', because he almost laughed himself into a hernia.
* In ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'', beatnik magazine editor Joe Malik prefers to watch the most mundane and run-of-the-mill American TV shows -- potboiler detective series and soap operas -- whilst stoned out his gourd, as he perceives greater depth of meaning in them in this frame of mind. Old monochrome movies are fertile turf for him, and in as many words, he gets to see and deconstruct the underlying tropes. This is extremely instructive with the adverts in between segments of shows -- he realizes the nature of the manipulation tools involved.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheColbertReport'':
** The 4/20/10 episode subverted this. [[SarcasmMode Angry at stoners for celebrating their decadent lifestyle]], the show lays out a series of frightening stimuli for the stoned viewer, including: loud banging noises as if the police were at your door, Stephen asking, "Are you ok? Everybody's been saying you're acting weird," and a police officer yelling at the screen.
** Colbert once made a one-off joke about how small children and stoners are alike because "they sit there and drool while watching ''Series/YoGabbaGabba''" (or something to that effect).
* Creator/BillBryson says he used to love watching ''Open University'' drunk.
* Creator/CraigFerguson occasionally brings this up for laughs on ''Series/TheLateLateShow'' during the ColdOpening sketches where he's using a HandPuppet and will make a comment along the lines of, "If you've been smoking marijuana this evening, you're welcome".
* One episode of ''Series/TimAndEricAwesomeShowGreatJob'' parodied their show's stoner audience by claiming that they make the show while "smoking marijuano" [sic] in a ridiculous "interview" with Michael Ian Black. (They've said in straight interviews that no drugs are involved during the writing or filming of the show; the whole thing was a knowing wink and a nod to the audience.)
* Patti on ''Series/GoodGirlsRevolt'' watches the news stoned to feel a part of it (her boss asks her why being at News of the Week doesn’t make her feel part of the news). She also suggests this to him regarding music and even gives him a joint to try out. Towards the end of the first season, Gregory and Jane discuss paintings at an exhibition and he wonders whether he’d enjoy them more if he were on LSD.
* ''Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver'': In the "Mandatory Minimums" episode, John discusses how a man got 55 years in prison for selling marijuana despite its main side effect being "making episodes of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' slightly funnier."
* ''Series/RootOfAllEvil'': Discussed in the case of "Beer vs. Weed".
--> '''Paul F. Tompkins''': Weed is often said to enhance things, but it only seems to enhance things that are terrible. Why not just make things good in the first place?
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': Creator/RobertDuncanMcNeill once suggested that audiences may appreciate the episode "[[Trivia/StarTrekVoyagerS2E15Threshold Threshold]]" more if they watch it after taking a hallucinogenic.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
%%
%%No bands that fans merely say to watch stoned. Again, In-Universe Only.
%%
* Music/{{Genesis|Band}} used to get annoyed in the early 1970's when people thought that you had to be on drugs to appreciate their music, because they had to be perfectly sober to play it. Except for Music/PhilCollins, their [[AllDrummersAreAnimals then-drummer]], who was happily high on marijuana during almost all of the depressing "Lamb" tour. Ironically, the guy everybody ''[[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} thought]]'' was on drugs was Music/PeterGabriel as the frontman/flutist, who says he only tried pot once and didn't like it. [[note]] He freely admits that he was a MustHaveCoffee caffeine fiend at that time though... [[/note]]
* Music/QueensOfTheStoneAge are frequently categorized as "stoner rock," although the band members have rejected this label. They've stated in interviews that they gave up weed in junior high, and go on to make the point that Music/BritneySpears probably sounds good if you're high. It doesn't mean she has any 'hidden depths'.
* Surprisingly averted by Music/{{Hawkwind}}, or so at least the sleeve notes to their first album might have one believe:
-->We started out trying to freak people (trippers), now we are trying to levitate their minds, in a nice way, without acid...
* One of the most blatant lampshade hangings in musical history: the title of Music/Spacemen3's album ''Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To''.
* Subverted by Music/XJapan. Despite ongoing rumors that their original name "X" refers to ecstasy and having several songs referring to the use of various drugs (weed in ''Standing Sex,'' heroin in the non-gay sex remake of ''Stab Me In The Back,'' a likely oblique reference to ecstasy itself in ''Orgasm,'' heroin in ''IV,'' among others), all the band members aside from hide and Taiji categorically ''denied'' actually using drugs beyond alcohol and tobacco, and officially, the band is named after "infinity."
* Sitar legend Music/RaviShankar ''[[AvertedTrope hated]]'' it when hippies treated his music as PsychedelicRock and showed up at his concerts under the influence. While Shankar was not a teetotaler, he felt the conflation of Indian culture with drug culture was insulting and cheapened his art. He remarked, "I assured them that if they wanted to be high, I could make them feel high through the music."
* Music/ThreeSixMafia's "Sippin on Some Syrup" helpfully informs the listeners on who is and isn't the intended audience:
--> y'all non-snorters,
--> Non-smokers, non-sippers, get the fuck up out of here, bitch
* Music/The13thFloorElevators included an essay espousing the virtues of LSD in the sleeve of their first album.
* "Ebeneezer Goode" by Music/TheShamen is a barely disguized ode to ecstasy, with the chorus of "eezer goode, eezer goode" meant to sound like "e's are good".
-->A gentleman of leisure he's there for your pleasure\\
But go easy on old 'Ezeer he's the love you could lose\\
Extraordinary fellow, like Mr Punchinello\\
He's the kind of geezer who must never be abused
* Music/TheGratefulDead started out as a house band for the Electric Cool-Aid Acid Tests, parties where participants were encouraged to drink puch with a heavy dose of LSD in it, which some parties knew about [[IntoxicationEnsues and others didn't]]. This legacy has carried on to Jam Music scene, where consets and the parking lot pre-party have become popular places to imbide in a number of substances.
* Music/PinkFloyd's albums from the 60s and 70s are heavily associated with LSD and marijuana, but while Syd Barrett famously burned out on LSD in the band's early days, neither Roger Waters nor David Gilmour indulged all that often, though keyboardist Richard Wright did admit that occasional use of marijuana would help the band loosen up when they got creatively stuck while writing songs. Wright also claimed that contrary to popular myth, the band never took drugs before or during their concerts, just "half a beer" at most.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Many of the experience reports on [[http://www.erowid.org Erowid]] (a psychoactive encyclopedia) include mentions of how great show/song X is on drugs.
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic occasionally invokes this, such as in his list of the "Top Ten Worst [[DrugsAreBad Anti-Drug]] PSA's" or in his review of ''Series/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda1989'' animated series. Midway through the second half of his review of ''WesternAnimation/RapsittieStreetKidsBelieveInSanta'', he realizes the movie came with a strip of acid that he forgot to take, but all it does is make it look like the movie's being played in ''Film/TheMatrix''.
* Justin Pierce, creator of ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'', has an online shop with original posters and other nicknacks. One of these posters proclaims "ABSINTHE makes bad art look AMAZING".
* In ''WebVideo/MidnightScreenings'', usually Creator/{{Brad|Jones}} or Dave will talk about liking to watch some movies when high, even movies they like anyway. Two minutes into ''Film/JupiterAscending'', Brad realized he should have gotten high before watching. Sarah assured him he could just get high next time he watched it.
* Website/{{Cracked}}'s J.F. Sargent decided to test this by [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-classic-stoner-movies-reviewed-sober-and-then-high/ watching six "stoner" movies sober and on drugs]].
* Invoked by the Youtube channel [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeJLx_Dy_icz3oDHhJeMe9g Super Deluxe]], which has an entire series of videos called [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi_iu5SegOb3SUfaIHUcdbiG1Id6VP6PP Stoned Mode]] that they specifically state are "best watched while baked".
* Also invoked by ''WebVideo/CinemaSins'':
** During his review of ''Film/PetesDragon'', which he has made very clear is almost as odious as suffering through ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' movies (He complains more about the former, but the latter actually killed the sin counter). He wonders if he was meant to watch it on drugs, you hear him hit on a bong, and he remarks that it's still not watchable.
** During some of the slow motion scenes in ''Film/ThreeHundred'', Jeremy wonders "Was I supposed to take drugs before watching this movie? I mean, I could have. I just wish I'd known."
* Invoked by WebVideo/HonestTrailers in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJGYEVFGrDc their episode]] on ''Film/AWrinkleInTime2018'', which they describe as a film with two target audiences: ten-year-old girls, and people high on LSD.
* ''WebAnimation/PonyDotMov'': Before watching the final battle between [[spoiler:Rainbow Dash]] and Discord, Spike smokes a blunt saying, "Might as well make this interesting."
* Many of the alien and paranormal related episodes of ''Podcast/TheLastPodcastOnTheLeft'' come with Henry recommending "rolling a gorilla finger sized blunt" to get into the right headspace.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E16WeekendAtBurnsies Weekend at Burnsie's]]", Homer starts smoking pot. He soon finds everything to be better on pot -- including Mr. Burns' jokes and The Bible.
** When Creator/CheechAndChong had a cameo, the room filled up with smoke and everybody laughed. The tall guy above the smoke said, "I don't find this funny at all."
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS25E8WhiteChristmasBlues White Christmas Blues]]", it's revealed that the only reason ''[[SubvertedKidsShow The Itchy & Scratchy Show]]'' was allowed to air on ''The Krusty the Klown Show'' is because Krusty never watched a single episode while sober.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS24E15BlackEyedPlease Black-Eyed, Please]]", Homer watches ''Series/SesameStreet'' with Ned Flanders' parents while smoking marijuana. This leads to Ned snapping and punching Homer in the eye.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** In "[[Recap/SouthParkS8E11QuestForRatings Quest for Ratings]]" the main group of kids can't figure out why Craig's "Close-Ups of Dogs in Funny Hats" is more popular than their news show. This changes when they get stoned on cough syrup and spend the whole time watching Craig's show.
** "[[Recap/SouthParkS2E4IkesWeeWee Ike's Wee Wee]]" has Mr Garrison watching ''Series/{{Teletubbies}}'' while completely off his face on Cannabis.
** "[[Recap/SouthParkS2E11RogerEbertShouldLayOffTheFattyFoods Roger Ebert Should Lay Off The Fatty Foods]]" have a couple of stoners at the planetarium, the only others there aside from the kids who were forced to go.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Rough Trade", Stan is trying to get used to Roger's daily routine:
-->'''Stan:''' Roger watches this crap all day? What am I missing?\\
'''Klaus:''' An elevated blood alcohol content.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS1E1DeathHasAShadow Death Has a Shadow]]", Peter attends a stag party, but the porno he brought was taped over by Meg for a history assignment. The guys decide to drink more in hopes that "the Statue of Liberty would take her clothes off".
** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS7E12Episode420 420]]", Brian lists "ratings for ''Series/DoctorWho'' are through the roof" as one of the social benefits of marijuana being legalised.
** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS2E5WhistleWhileYourWifeWorks Whistle While Your Wife Works]]", Brian mentions watching ''Real World/Road Rules Challenge'' with Jillian. When Stewie reminds him he hates [=MTV=], he responds with "Pot helps."
[[/folder]]
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