->''"Drugs are bad. You shouldn't do drugs. [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment If you do them, you're bad, because drugs are bad. It's a bad thing to do drugs, so don't be bad by doing drugs, m'kay, that'd be bad.]]"''
-->-- '''Mr. Mackey''', ''SouthPark'', "Ike's Wee Wee"

"Don't do drugs" is a [[StockAesops Stock Aesop]] that has been sledgehammered into children's television shows at the request of the United States government. It usually results in {{Anvilicious}} moralizing and {{Very Special Episode}}s.

Although illegal drugs and misused legal drugs can have devastating effects on the lives of their users, Drugs Are Bad shows and commercials often [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin exaggerate how bad they actually are]], sometimes resulting in {{Narm}}. Often, even the villains of shows, when presented with an opportunity to sell drugs for profit, will decline on the grounds that EvenEvilHasStandards.

And of course, drugs are nothing ''but'' bad -- that is, television would rather kids believe that the only reason anyone takes drugs is because of external pressures and powerful addiction, rather than admit that drugs make people feel temporarily like everything is beautiful and/or they are golden gods. No, drugs make you feel paranoid, sweaty, scared and sick, but never ''good''. Alternatively, drugs make people feel wonderful the first time they take them, but every subsequent time the same drug (or a harder one) makes them feel like worse than Hell. But it's too late, because they're already "hooked" after the first time.

See: TheAggressiveDrugDealer, that monster from the 90's who finds middle-class suburbanite kids where ever they are and ''forces'' them to take his drugs.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Advertising ]]

* The famous [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5gBJGnaXs "This Is Your Brain On Drugs"]] TV PublicServiceAnnouncement. %% Old link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9OGpiB7Zpo
* Avoided in commercials running on Canadian television: the message isn't that smoking marijuana is going to ruin your life, but that getting high and then driving, like drinking and driving, is a stupid idea.
** This troper's (Texas) high school had some posters to the same effect.
* One {{Narm}}-y Ad Council PublicServiceAnnouncement has a girl's dog tell her he wishes she would stop smoking marijuana. Left unsaid was that if your dog is talking to you, you have much larger problems than smoking marijuana.
** From the same people, the one with the guy burning his guitar because of marijuana. This troper to his sister: "I thought most guitar players used marijuana..."
** This troper's brother thinks that they designed the commercials to appeal to people who are high. It's scary how much sense that makes.
*** But if you ''aren't''stoned, they make you want to be...
** This kind of PSA is parodied in [[HaroldAndKumar Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle]] when the titular characters are watching television. One teen pressures another teen into smoking marijuana; shortly afterwards, the kid grabs a rifle, aims it directly [[TooDumbToLive at his face]], and pulls the trigger, thinking that he's invincible. Cue the {{SpaceWhaleAesop}}.
* The British ''Talk To FRANK'' service originated as a comparatively neutral source of information about drugs, but gradually started becoming more and more {{Anvilicious}} in their advertising, sometimes CompletelyMissingThePoint (for example, blaming cocaine users for the harm caused by trafficking, instead of blaming the government for making such trafficking necessary).

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

* ''JoJosBizarreAdventure'' part 5 features Giorno who tries to rise in the mafia, and he and many others in his RagTagBunchOfMisfits thinks that the part of the mafia focusing on drugs are the evil parts. Assassination? It's ok. "Protection services"? Fine and dandy. Drugs? Horror that must be defeated.
* In ''FullMetalPanic'', one of the more focused on aspects of the evil of [[NebulousEvilOrganization Amalgam]] is the fact that they drug the girls they kidnap along with their AS pilots (in order to induce the AxCrazy psychological effects necessary). The fact that the organization goes around causing ''wars'' and ''mass destruction'' doesn't seem to hit Sousuke nearly as hard as the fact that they kidnap and drug girls (causing them to go crazy and become addicted). Then again, death has never been considered very important or horrible in [[NietzscheWannabe Sousuke's]] mind...

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* There was an entire ''Wolverine'' comic arc featuring PsychoSerum cocaine which, after a while, ''turned into a horrific monster from the dawn of humanity''. "[[SpaceWhaleAesop That's right, kids, take crack and you may well turn into a horrific blobby goo abomination.]]"

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* The EvenEvilHasStandards version is a key theme of ''TheGodfather''.
** Similarly, in {{Goodfellas}}, Henry Hill is warned by his bosses in TheMafia not to get involved in drugs... not so much because they disapprove of it, but because it'll bring the full weight of the federal government crashing down on top of them, which the bosses do not want. True enough, when Henry gets involved in drugs (both dealing and addicted), the feds bust in on the party and the good times are definitely over.
* The movie ''DieHard'' made sure that annoying loser Harry Ellis used cocaine. This was probably done in equal parts to show how pathetically depressed he was, though.
* The TotallyRadical and SoBadItsGood movie ''High School Confidential!'' offered these words of wisdom: "If you flake around with the weed, you'll end up using the harder stuff." [[http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2007.01906.x That's]] [[http://diss.kib.ki.se/2007/978-91-7357-064-0/ mostly]] true, but that still doesn't make it any less [[{{Narm}} Narmtacular]].
* Parodied in ''WalkHard'': Dewey will frequently walk in on his drummer Sam engaging in some illicit narcotic accompanied by a crowd of beautiful young women. Sam will urgently tell Dewey that "you don't want no part in this!", but will then with the same urgent tone list all the great things about that particular drug. Dewey inevitably ends up hooked on it. For example, when Dewey notices friends smoking reefer:
--> '''Sam''': No, Dewey, you don't want this. Get outta here!
--> '''Dewey Cox''': You know what, I don't want no hangover. I can't get no hangover.
--> '''Sam''': It ''doesn't'' give you a hangover!
--> '''Dewey''': Wha-I get addicted to it or something?
--> '''Sam''': It's ''not habit-forming!''
--> '''Dewey''': Oh, okay...well, I don't know...I don't want to overdose on it.
--> '''Sam''': You ''can't OD on it!''
--> '''Dewey''': It's not gonna make me wanna have sex, is it?
--> '''Sam''': It makes sex ''even better!''
--> '''Dewey''': Sounds kind of expensive.
--> '''Sam''': It's the ''cheapest drug'' there is.
* ''ReeferMadness.'' The title says it all.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* This is one of the main points of ''AScannerDarkly.'' The newest drug on the market gives a great high, but can cause hallucinations and dissociative personality disorder. The novel is told from the point of view of an undercover narc. Throughout the book he [[spoiler: uses the drug to maintain his cover, watches several of his friends suffer mental breakdowns, begins to lose his sense of identity, ends up shipped off to an evil rehab clinic which actually manufactures the drug, and is then revealed to have been sent there by his own superiors. Everything about his breakdown was engineered, and he was basically a sacrificial lamb for the government. Because DrugsAreBad.]] To be fair, the book is also very poignant and one of the best examples of this particular Aesop.
** Also of note is the book's epilogue/author's note. In it, Philip K. Dick explains he based most of the characters on people he knew and his own experiences in the drug culture. He then lists those people who inspired the novel (and who he feels were punished far more severely than the crime deserved). Most of them are then listed as deceased or suffering from permanent vascular damage or psychosis. One of the names on the list is himself.
* Also doing it right is RequiemForADream, which at first seems to be a story about the brilliance of drugs a la AlteredStates. [[NightmareFuelUnleaded This ends.]]
* ''Literature/HouseOfTheScorpion'' looks at the trope, depicting a nation where an entire nation is run by drug lords after deals were made with the U.S. and Mexican governments. The nation keeps illegals out of both countries, and doesn't ship drugs to either of them. In return, the two nations leave them alone to ship drugs to other places in the world. The Keepers, corrupt officials that run a work camp, are arrested not because of abuse of the boys, but because [[spoiler: a failed drug test]]
* Subverted in ''The Wind Singer''. Mumpo becomes somewhat addicted to chewing on some leaves used by one of the tribes the group has passed. When they awaken the [[PuttingOnTheReich beautiful, blond and evil Zars]], they're so afraid and hungry that they can't concentrate on their task. Mumpo then shares the leaves with the others, and it eases their feelings, leaving them so high and giggly that they're halfway back before they know it.
* ''GoAskAlice'' is basically "DrugsAreBad: The Book"
* In DavidEddings' ''[[{{Belgariad}} Malloreon]]'', Sadi presents Silk with a business proposal involving the setup and operation of a worldwide drug supply chain. Silk declines on the grounds that "[[EvenEvilHasStandards a man has draw the line somewhere]]", despite Sadi's LongList of morally dubious acts about which Silk has few qualms.
** In other scenes, however, the main characters stand around laughing at what various minor characters had done under the influence of Sadi's drugs. They only try to put a stop to Sadi's business activities when he branches out into selling poison, and even then, they don't object to his selling recreational drugs.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Most famous TV example: ''SavedByTheBell'' + Jessie + prescription caffeine-like pills = [[{{Narm}} The greatest moment in unintentional comedy history]].
* Subverted a bit in ''{{V}}''. In ''V: The Final Battle'', the street smart member of the resistance is selling drugs to Visitors and their collaborators. When his father confronts him on this, the character justifies it as a means to help undermine their enemy in some small way.
* The U.S. government paid TV networks to make sure that anyone using drugs was portrayed as a loser. ''{{ER}}'', ''Beverly Hills 90210'', ''Chicago Hope'', ''TheDrewCareyShow'', ''7th Heaven'' and other shows had their scripts reviewed by the government and changes made so the network could pocket some cash.
* ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. The episode "Symbiosis" including a why-drugs-are-bad speech by Tasha Yar to Wesley Crusher.
** The episode "The Neutral Zone" has a musician from the 20th century who died from heavy substance abuse, was frozen, and then revived by the Enterprise crew.
* Both played straight and played with in the early 90s live-action/rubber suit sitcom ''Dinosaurs.'' They do a very straightforward DrugsAreBad episode about the characters finding and abusing a plant implied to be marijuana until one of them just accidentally burns the whole thing while high. At the end, they avert the usual PSA segment about how bad drugs are, when the adolescent son begs the audience to not do drugs so sitcoms can stop getting pushed to ''make'' {{VerySpecialEpisode}}s.
* {{Andromeda}} episode "It makes a lovely light" dealt with one of the main characters' newfound drug addiction, with ''heavy'' reliance on flavor-of-the-month PSA language.
* Because the idea of monstrous, ant-like aliens blackmailing the human race for ten percent of their children apparently wasn't far enough over the MoralEventHorizon, Day Five of the ''{{Torchwood}}'' mini-series ''Children Of Earth'' had to reveal that [[spoiler:the aliens were using the kids to get high]]. Naturally, this revelation had to be stated in [[{{Narm}} the dumbest possible way]]:
-->''"You're shooting up... [[spoiler:on children]]?"''
* A very special MyNameIsEarl had him and his friends accidentally acquire a pile of marijuana - these career criminals who spend most of their time drunk react with horror to the stuff, and the folks using the stuff act unlike anyone stoned, ever. It had to be a parody - it HAD to be...
* On an episode of EightSimpleRules, Kerry is found with marihuana in her backpack. CJ seems to accept it, but the rest of the cast reacts with great shock, especially her boyfriend and mother. [[{{Narm}} Cate even gives a moving lecture about it.]]
* Averted on ''MadMen'': When Creative has to work on a Saturday to come up with ideas for a new Bacardi Rum campaign, Kinsey (Sterling Cooper Creative's resident Pretentious Intellectual) makes a point of saying how much he is inspired by "Mary Jane." He tracks down some marijuana (that is, he calls an old college buddy of his to bring it into the office), and he and one of the other Creative guys starts smoking it, having engineered to get Peggy out of the office. She storms back in, and very pointedly says "My name is Peggy Olson and I'd like to smoke some marijuana." Not only does she have a good time, she ends up actually finishing the assignment by the end of the episode. It potentially crosses over into [[InvertedTrope Inversion]] territory when Peggy's secretary Olive, a rather conservative older woman who'd been warning Peggy about how bad it was, receives a (completely stoned) lecture from Peggy about how she (Peggy) was going places and how Olive had already decided not to (more or less).
* The British miniseries ''{{Traffic}}'', and the American film adaptation, have the message "Drugs are bad, but there aren't any easy answers (possible solutions, but not easy ones)."
* There was an episode of [[{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}} Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] that had the school swim team doing steroids. They turned into fish demons.
* The ''DoctorWho'' episode "Gridlock" involves a virus that mutated from an incredibly addictive drug named "Bliss", which wiped out a whole city.
* Subverted on ''GossipGirl''. Nate and Chuck do drugs on a seemingly regular basis with no ill effects thus far.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music ]]

* Played (relatively) straight in the video for ''The Last Journey Home'' by {{DragonForce}}, where Vadim and ZP turn down the offerings of a drug dealer who accosts them in a seedy back alley.
* Done well in Jamey Johnson's brutally honest hit song [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4EarfzxcCQ "The High Cost of Living"]]. Not ''quite'' CrowningMusicOfAwesome quality, but pretty darn close.
* More or less half of the message of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Punk}} Straight Edge movement]].
* Afroman's ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=305vRNoofr8&feature=related Because I Got High]] [[LyricalDissonance sounds like a pretty cheerful and upbeat song]] about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin getting high]], but as the song goes on, increasingly bad things happen to him, Because he got high.
--> ''I messed up my entire life, because I got high,''
--> ''I lost my kids and wife, because I got high.''
--> ''Now I'm sleeping on the sidewalk, and I know why,''
--> ''Because I got high, because I got high, because I got high.''
** Entirely PlayedForLaughs though.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: New Media ]]

* The About.com entry on marijuana says that the effects of it are "Distorted perception, problems with memory and learning, loss of coordination, trouble with thinking and problem-solving, increased heart rate and reduced blood pressure". Anyone reading that may wonder ''why'' people smoke marijuana in the first place. It's accurate, from a medical standpoint, but also something of a lie of omission.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling ]]

* C.M. Punk's whole {{Heel}} gimmick is pretty much telling everybody DrugsAreBad over and over and over again, and wagging an accusatory finger towards the audience. Of course, in his mind, anything stronger than caffeine is worthy of scorn.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* The "Winners Don't Use Drugs" screen that used to appear in the AttractMode of many arcade games (and in some places still does. There's also messages from the EPA).
* In the video game, ''SWAT 2'', there's an entire campaign for the Terrorist side. While you're free to murder and take hostages throughout the campaign, one of the early missions opens with your boss chastising some of the terrorist members for growing marijuana for profit, and he orders you to set fire to the crop. EvenEvilHasStandards.
* Used [[{{ptitle643yzv8u}} badly]] in the game based on TheWitcher, characters show more contempt at their attempts to control the drug trade than their ranks including rapists and murderers. This is worse when it's a [[GreyAndGrayMorality morally vague]] WorldHalfEmpty, so any kind of message (intended or not) doesn't fit.
* Averted in ''StarCraft'' where feeding your marines stimpacks doubles their effectiveness but damages them by about 1/4 of their health, but is necessary to utilize them effectively. Kind of played straight with the disclaimer though:
-->''Side effects including insomnia, weight loss, tremors, grand mal seizures, mania/hypomania, paranoiac hallucinations, severe internal hemorrhaging and cerebral deterioration have all been declared nominal and well within Confederate acceptable safety margins.''
** If you have the expansion, you can heal the damage from stimpacks with medics. And keep giving your marines stims. The result is, figuratively and literally, space marines on crack.
* Skooma a drinkable drug from the ElderScrolls series is shown as highly addictive as well as causing brain damage. Or in game terms two points of intelligence damage per bottle, meaning 25 doses could leave you a vegetable.
* {{Haze}} features 'nectar' as a combat enhancing drug that has the unfortunate side effect of [[spoiler: being more likely to kill you than the enemy.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* Parodied in ''RedVsBlue'' when Simmons tells the other members of Red team that he and Grif were drugged. Donut immediately assumes that they were intentionally abusing drugs and proceeds on a long tirade about how drugs are bad, much to Simmons' annoyance.
* Spoofed in the Saturday Morning Watchmen themesong. "Say no to drugs!" is sung while Rorschach is shown turning away from a dealer.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Parodied in ''SouthPark'''s episode ''Ike's Wee-Wee'', as quoted above.
* Several episodes of ''CaptainPlanet'', including a memorable one in which Linka became addicted to drugs slipped into a pastry and a more hilarious one where the drugs were some sort of magically evil gems one ingested by pressing them against your skin until they were absorbed(!).
* Depicted in a fairly believable fashion in a SuperHero and ScienceFiction context in ''BatmanBeyond'' without being {{Anvilicious}}. In the "The Winning Edge," a leading school sports team is using a super steroid based on the supervillain Bane's venom chemical in skin induction applications called "slappers." It makes the kids stronger, but 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 a complete vegetable totally dependent on Venom to stay alive; the natural result of using it for decades.
* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''{{Rambo}}'' actually did an episode titled "Just Say No."
* ''GIJoe'' had an episode where the Joes team up with Freakin'' COBRA to take down a drug lord after one of the COBRA agent's sister gets hospitalized due to the drug lord's new product, "Spark". Cobra Commander only gets involved when the agent persuades him that, since drugs are big business, 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 [[NightmareFuel horrific overdose]]. It also turns out that the drug lord's bags of "cash" were really bags of shredded newspaper.
** Following ''G.I. Joe'' example above, ''C.O.P.S.'' BigBad, "Big Boss", once used his power to keep drugs out of Empire City. He helps the good guys stop a drug lord when his own son, TheDragon (the dumb Breskero), gets affected.
* "Alone Again" from ''{{Jem}}'' fits this trope. Laura, the newest Starlight Girl, is so depressed over her parents's deaths that she's easy prey for a drug daler. Pity about the {{Anvilicious}} Aesop, since the first five minutes describing Laura's self-hate and loneliness are an ''intense'' TearJerker.
* TheSimpsons kids' favorite cartoon, 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.

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