History Main / FantasticDrug

** In "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS2E8HookedUp Hooked Up]]", total-immersion virtual reality (basically computer-generated euphoric hallucinations) is portrayed as being very addictive, with catastrophic side effects inevitably resulting from prolonged use.

* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' has "dreamberries". In the Russian version, they're called "Drunkberries".

** There is a drug that gives immortality to humans, made by killing and harvesting glands of a sapient alien race, the Stookies, that have heart attacks at the slightest things (similar to fainting goats). Naturally, stookie glanding is completely illegal and people who deal in it are dealt with in Dredd's normal manner (most of them wind up dead). So do most of the Stookies he's trying to save. Stookie glands are so addictive, that the symptoms of coming off them involves rapid ageing.

* In ''Literature/TheDarkProfitsSaga'', healing potions are a fantastic drug that's essential for adventurers...and also highly addictive. They do exactly what they claim to do, which is heal wounds, but they also provide a general sense of "feeling good" as wounds are healed, resulting in some people becoming "healing junkies", desperate to get their next healing potion, and willing to hurt themselves, sometimes badly, so that it works that much better. [[spoiler: Kaitha]] is one such addict, and the narrative doesn't have to go far to show how dangerous the addiction is to everyone around [[spoiler: her]].

** The "[=ThreeEye=]" in ''Literature/{{Storm Front|DresdenFiles}}'' is supposed to give its users second sight. Harry is skeptical [[spoiler:until a junkie notices a rather nasty psychic scar of his. It turns out that it actually ''does'' work; it's a potion mass-produced by an EvilSorcerer after he realized that it was addictive]]. Harry also notes that regardless of any other circumstances, the drug will result in insanity more often than not, as [[spoiler: anything seen with Second Sight can ''never'' be forgotten. Wizards are trained on how to handle that. Mundanes are not.]]

** ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': During the back half of Season 6, Constantine compensates for the loss of his inherent magic earlier in the season by drinking vampire blood to give himself a boost. This quickly becomes a metaphor for drug use, as he's manic and unpredictable when on it and sickly and irritable when in withdrawal, and the plot line culminates with Zari threatening to leave him if he doesn't sober up, which he attempts by going cold turkey. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, the nature of the addiction causes him to develop an EnemyWithin manifesting his darker impulses, which eventually [[SplitPersonalityTakeover takes over]] during the final episodes of the season.]]

* In ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth'', the alien species named the 456 return to Earth (after abducting 12 children back in 1965) and demands 10% of the children of the world, [[spoiler: as the children's bodies create chemicals that act as narcotics for them to "feel good" as they did with one of the children from 1965 (who is now a [[BodyHorror shrivelled husk that has never aged for 40 years]] but [[AndIMustScream still conscious]])]].

** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' introduces TN-1, the precursor to Titan, which causes brain damage (primarily to the memory centers of the mind) as a side-effect. This is used to {{Retcon}} Bane's appearance in ''Asylum'' and ''City''; in ''Origins'' he's similar to his comics counterpart (a GeniusBruiser who's larger than normal men but not ''too'' unrealistic), but after taking TN-1, he turns into a walking mountain of muscle and seems to lose some brainpower in the process. [[spoiler: It also causes him to forget that he'd figured out Batman's secret identity, which was a plot point in ''Origins'' but was never acknowledged in ''Asylum'' or ''City'']].

* ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'' has "prisoner's honey" which transports you physically into a DreamLand. It's regulated, but legal. But stay away from red honey, which is one of the few things that's outright illegal in Fallen London. [[spoiler: Red honey lets you [[MindRape enter somebody else's memories and mess around]]. And then there's Cardinal's Honey, which thrusts you into dreams of the dead; this is such a massive backfire it's used as an especially awful poison more than a drug]].
** One subplot in ''VideoGame/SunlessSea'' involves [[spoiler: sphinxstone]], which turns out to be this for [[GeniusLoci Genii Locorum]], or at least for [[spoiler: the Bazaar]]. Also, for Neathers, sunlight is a dangerously addictive experience that produces feelings of euphoria even as [[WeakenedByTheLight you burn to ashes]]. Smugglers visit the surface with special mirror-lined boxes to bring it back to the Neath.

* Dream Leaf in ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' is an iridescent tree leaf from a semi-sentient (?) tree that acts as a sedative and gives the user good dreams. It is typically used is by old people and insomniacs. In war-torn Border Town, it is taken recreationally by those who want to dream of the good old days [[spoiler: or by our heroes, [[GuideDangIt to access the Haures summon in the blocked-off part of town]]]]. When the Dream Tree is under attack by the ghostly monster Sludge, its leaves instead induce nightmares.

* The city of Billion in ''VideoGame/{{Gungrave}}'' is overrun with crime and a mysterious drug known only as "seed". It's highly addictive and gives the user increased resilience and strength, along with lowered inhibitions and euphoria. However, it eventually drives the user insane and leads to death. Turns out that seed is really [[spoiler: derived from a malevolent race of alien parasites whose [[AlwaysChaoticEvil only reason to live is to reproduce by taking control of other lifeforms]]]]. And it's used in the technology that brought the protagonist back from death and nearly all the enemies he fights throughout the series.

* ''VideoGame/StyxMasterOfShadows'' has processed amber, with amber being the liquid sap of the world tree and double as {{Mana}} for Styx to use his various abilities. Though officially prohibited, amber was seen widely traded and smuggled in various parts of Akenash, providing a justified source of bottles of amber lying about or being carried around for Styx to steal. The sequel, ''VideoGame/StyxShardsOfDarkness'' reveals that [[spoiler: after the Fall of Akenash, the primary source of Amber is the Dark Elves, who juice goblins to get their fix!]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', the series pays homage to the storyline about Harry Osborn's drug addiction in [[ComicBook/SpiderMan the comics]] by using the PsychoSerum "Globulin Green". This has the fortunate side-effect of merging two of Harry's biggest storylines, his drug addiction and his eventual becoming of the Green Goblin. This is alluded to in the series, as [[spoiler: he is originally thought to be the Green Goblin before it's revealed Norman's been manipulating Harry into taking the fall for him. Besides making the Harry story tighter it also makes the reveal of Norman Osborn being the Green Goblin a genuine shock for the first time in over forty years!]]

* ''Literature/TheHanSoloTrilogy'': Spice, which has various types and is highly restricted, thus also very profitable for smuggling. There's the Exultation as well, which isn't an actual substance but in fact the mating call male t'landa Til use with a drug-like effect on members of other species. It is equally addictive, though, and used to hook "pilgrims" in their fake religion on Ylesia.

* ''Westernanimation/Phantom2040'': Dimulations of the natural environment from before the Resource Wars are portrayed like addictive drugs, complete with strung-out junkies going without food for a hit, and getting violent when their session is interrupted.

* ''Literature/TheInfernalDevices'': Yin Fen is a highly-addictive stimulant and poison. It provides a feeling of exhilaration and ecstasy, but slowly kills its user and leaches the color from their body.

* ''Series/KamenRiderW'' has the Gaia Memories, specialized items forged from the world's internal data which people use to become [[MonsterOfTheWeek Dopant]] and are distributed by criminals around the city of Futo. While not directly compared to drugs, the series makes many very unsubtle allusions to them being such, with the Dopants MeaningfulName being in part the word "doping", one villain expressing outrage when he hears they are being distributed to children, them being directly injected into the body via a marked spot on their body given by a dealer, possessing addictive qualities, and gradually rendering the users personalities violently unstable over time, eventually either killing or severely injuring them after their bodies are unable to sustain their developing powers. Notably, while both the heroes and villains also use them to battle, as is tradition in ''Rider'', this involves the use of equipment specifically designed to harness the power safely.
* ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' follows up the above example with the Astro Switches used by [[MonsterOfTheWeek Zodiarts]]. Like Gaia Memories, the Switches are distributed to high schoolers by the villains, and their use is shown to result in addiction and insanity. In one episode, a previous Astro Switch user is shown having withdrawal symptoms, refusing to go to school out of fear of receiving another Switch and having a relapse.

* ''Literature/RedDwarf'' has "Bliss", a brown powder that literally makes the user believe that they're God, can supposedly get someone hooked just by looking at it, and causes the user to become suicidally depressed for decades after coming down, which is probably what makes it so addictive. There's also Better than Life, which is a sort of LotusEaterMachine in the books rather than the more innocuous artificial reality video game of [[Series/RedDwarf the TV series]].

** Outrazone (pronounced vaguely like "ultrazone" in a mock-Canadian accent) is a chemical gunk that is apparently [[AIGettingHigh marijuana for mechanoids]].
** A second season episode mentions a powerful hallucinogenic mushroom species native to Titan (one of the moons of Saturn).
** Apparently, by the time before Arnold Rimmer caused Red Dwarf's fatal accident, humanity had learned to create a form of gin out of marijuana. They called it [[CaptainObvious Marijuana Gin]].

** The "[=ThreeEye=]" in ''Literature/StormFront'' is supposed to give its users second sight. Harry is skeptical [[spoiler:until a junkie notices a rather nasty psychic scar of his. It turns out that it actually ''does'' work; it's a potion mass-produced by an EvilSorcerer after he realized that it was addictive]]. Harry also notes that regardless of any other circumstances, the drug will result in insanity more often than not, as [[spoiler: anything seen with Second Sight can ''never'' be forgotten. Wizards are trained on how to handle that. Mundanes are not.]]

* The plot-relevant drug in ''Literature/PerdidoStreetStation'' is Dreamshit, which is made up of dreams made physical and sawdust. A dose knocks the user unconscious while they experience all the dreams (of all "genres") semi-simultaneously. It's very intense but the hangover doesn't last long.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series features a wide array of drugs (called chems in universe) that have major stat boosts but come with the risk of addiction and withdrawal symptoms. Many of them have very clear real-life analogs (e.g. Buffout, which boosts strength and endurance, is a steroid, mentats, which boost intelligence and are often taken by students, are adderall, and psycho, which boosts damage but causes some heavy bloodlust seems to be based on the amphetamines given to soldiers in wartime) while some are weirder (e.g. Cateye, which grants night vision, and X-Cell, which boosts all stats).

** The "[=ThreeEye=]" in ''Literature/StormFront'' is supposed to give its users second sight. Harry is skeptical [[spoiler:until a junkie notices a rather nasty psychic scar of his. It turns out that it actually ''does'' work; it's a potion mass-produced by an EvilSorcerer after he realized that it was addictive]].

* In ''Literature/TheExpanse'', spaceship occupants take a special drug, colloquially called "the juice", when preparing for high-speed maneuvers. This drug is a mixture of various blood thinners, blood vessel reinforcers, adrenaline, and other stimulants that provide protection to internal organs against the crushing gravitational forces of a high-speed boost.

* Ed Nygma's invention, the "Mind Blender"... er, the Box from ''Film/BatmanForever'', which allows him to suck the neural energy of everybody watching TV with the thing. Taking hits from Nygma's machine is apparently quite addictive. The Riddler himself spends hours on a stylized throne shaped like "The Thinker", jittering like a coke fiend as he sucks up more energy.

** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEscapeFromCatrina'' features a {{Cat Pe|ople}}rson witch named Catrina who is addicted to a powerful PsychoSerum called witchweed potion. She tries to capture the ponies as ''slave labor'' for gathering the ingredients so that she can make more. Interestingly, while Catrina ''does'' eventually kick the habit and make a HeelFaceTurn, this only happens at the last moment before she would have otherwise died by falling into a well. [[GoodIsNotSoft It's only because of her promise to kick the habit that the heroes save her life]].

* Taduki from the ''Allan Quartermain'' novels (see below) also features in ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', in which it's a thinly disguised version of opium, and Allan is hooked on it. ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1969'' also has the drug of choice in [[TheSixties Swinging London]] as "Tadukic Acid" (or "taddies") instead of LSD.

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': The Red Eye, a stimulant which is sprayed in the eye and grants incredibly fast reaction times and dissociation from reality.

* ''Film/RoboCop2'' has "Nuke", which is "injected" via disposable eyedrop vials. There is [[ChemicalMessiah a cult based around the drug]].

** Umpty is a candy which is simply so extremely delicious that anyone who eats it develops an instant psychological addiction to it and will do anything to gain more Umpty to eat.

** The [[OurTrollsAreDifferent trolls]], a race of aliens plagued by violent night terrors, sleep in cocoons filled with a powerful sedative gel called sopor slime, which has effects similar to marijuana when eaten. [[LoveFreak Gamzee]] [[{{Juggalo}} Makara]] is a [[TheStoner chronic user]]. [[spoiler:[[SplitPersonality For]] [[MadArtist a]] [[AxCrazy good]] [[MonsterClown reason]]!]]

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Muellen, the mother of the protagonist, is drugged most of the time. One of her favorites is "dreamroot", but she also has other plants in her garden. It's what happens when a botanist becomes severely depressed -- she was a well-adjusted, but delicate soul in Ward's childhood. Then her abusive husband became too much to bear, and she started seeking solace in the psychoactive plants in her garden. She doesn't seem to be quite there even when she's not drugged, having effectively fled reality and turned herself into a full-time {{Cloudcuckoolander}}.

* Kef from ''Literature/AncillaryJustice''. It suppresses emotions, so people either take it in the mistaken belief they will become [[TheSpock transcendent beings of pure rationality and logic]] or they use it to dull emotional trauma. If used for the latter, it can be incredibly habit forming and addictive.

** ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' has the snakeleaf, which one character smokes like it's offworld marijuana.