Drug
Drugs are the most useful daily product for any human beings. EVER. They are primarily used for controlling your body's conditions by giving effects like healing(medical), waking your ass up for the day (coffee) or controlling your emotions so you won't rage quit on any board games. The most popular drugs are the illegal ones, like cocaine. They are popular among every chaos warband, especially Slaaneshi cultists and that bat-shit insane demonic biker. The good thing about drugs is that they get shit done. You wanna win the war? Poison the enemies' water supplies and let them have it! You wanna get stronger and beat up everyone? Use steroid(s) and wreck everybody!!But be warned, side effects ensue.
It is worth noting how edgy talking about drugs even in fictional sci-fi settings like 40k and Necromunda was in the 80s and 90s. None other than Rick Priestly talks about this here.
On /tg/
Drug plays a big part in RPG where it can be consumed as some kind of buff to your character. The classic red HP potion and Blue magic potion count as drugs, mind you.
Warhammer 40k contains a lot of reference to drugs thanks to the likes of the Dark Eldar and Slaanesh. Other than the likes of depraved alien species and daemon-worshiping cultists, having a universe set in a technological cyberpunk grimdark future means that the possibility of making a drug with unseen disastrous effects is very much possible, and the imperial assassins take the credit for being a bunch of drug addicted killing machines.
Cocaine is probably the most well known drug on /tg/ thanks to Doomrider and Snowflame.
Drugs in 40k
Warp Infused Drugs
- Spook originates in Necromunda, the exact type of substance it is derived from being inconsistent, perhaps because the Orlocks don't want you to know —ranging from decayed corpse starch to a fungus growing, both found deep in the Underhive. It is highly illegal and highly dangerous due to it's connection with the warp, propensity to invite uninvited guests, and how it can either heighten psych
edelic abilities to turn one into a thingamajig. It is nonetheless popular, however, both as a recreational drug and a tool for upping a wyrd's powerlevel, throughout all levels of Necromundan society and in the wider galaxy.
- There are a number of other warp-infused drugs going around, including flects (literal pieces of mirror which have reflected Chaos from within the Eye of Terror), which play a key plot point in the Ravenor books while the titular inquisitor is running around playing Inquisitorial DEA agent for a while, and the similar but distinct and seemingly milder gladstones.
- Icrotic slime is another Necromundan narcotic drug which is apparently actually some sort of blob that you put on your head containing a brain eating amoeba that beyond some point of no return will basically reduce you into a zombie, and you'll be too blissed out to unplug. Grimdark. Better bring a friend to remove the gelatinous blob from your head in time. Apparently up in the Spire there are drugs that can counteract this and let the uphivers go sliming without the risk. Whether this actually has to do directly with chaos is left unsaid but it probably does.
Combat Drugs
- The ones used by Eversor assassins: The reasons why they wreck shit so much. They consume some sort of special cocktail of combat enhancement drugs and ALL THE ADRENALINE/COKE that allows them go WRYYYYYY and shit on everyone nearby. But these drugs can be used only by Eversor assassins, who have had their immune systems enhanced to the point that they can handle the toxicity of the combat drug. Also has the nice side effect of making the assassin's corpse explode upon death.
- Polymorphine: Used by Callidus assassins. Note that it's POLYMORPH-ine, not poly-MORPHINE. This drug allows the user to alter their body shape and appearance, allowing them to impersonate other persons, members of the opposite sex, and even humanoid xenos like Orks and Eldar. That's why it is so easy to troll Macha. Sometimes also given out by morally ambiguous types to make infiltrators minus the superhuman assassin part. Cheaper and effective, but less flexibility.
- The Chirurgeon: Used by that Fabulous Bill after learning the trade from the sickest of fucks. It is a part-sorcerous and part-technological device that acts like an unholy mix of a life-support device crossed with a set of surgeon's tools, constantly patching Mr. Fabulous' failing body up. The device is charged with warp energy and Fabius can use it on persons other than himself if he wants. Naturally, it has the typical consequences of jamming warp-based shit into your bloodstream.
- Commorite Stimm-Rack: Another variant of chirurgeon. Sick ass slurpy drug chemical rack things that comes in three different flavors. One of Lucius's prized possessions after winning the contest of sickfuckery in the Dark Eldar arena and installed by the fabulous one himself.
- Laemon Green (Bylestim): Green blood of some lesser daemon with some wraithbone dust to go with it. Yummy!
- Tyranberry Red (Tyrphous): Fucking Tyranid blood. Harvested from their adrenal glands.
- Wych Cola (Serpentin): Drained from the blood of the Dark Eldar wyches.
- Combat Drugs: Used by the Emperor's Children and the Dark Eldar, particularly Wyches, to liven up the combat. Like all things associated with Chaos and Dark Eldar, can have a variety of useful effects, or go hilariously wrong.
Common Drugs
- Amasec: A type of good ol' fashioned booze. Ranges in quality from really good stuff that is favored by Guard and Naval Officers, the more flamboyant Inquisitors, Rogue Traders, nobles and the like, to cheap stuff good only for killing brain cells and degreasing engines (usually called Rotgut). Usually implied to take the social position whisky or maybe brandy do in our day to day, or occasionally more exotic liquors like arrack (which can mean different things in different parts of the Orient, e.g. in Sri Lanka or Persia.) Definitely hard liquor though, and fairly ubiquitous.
- Real rotgut: hope that the ethanol to promethium ratio is in your favor. The worst of the worst, distilled on a small scale and often with plenty of impurities, found in declasse establishments and holes in the wall in the underhives of Necromunda and similar, or improvised by Guardsman.
- Cigar: Why the fuck not? These candy sticks hanging in your mouth prove that you are the manliest of men in the grimdark future. By the 41 millennium, tobacco seems to have been one of the plants that died off when Terra went industrial, and has been replaced with tabac or lho leaves. However, it's only available to the high ranking offcers, the rich and beautiful, and officers with big hats. Cigars are often used for celebrating victory, but this fucker smokes one all the time because he knows you have already lost. Also used surprisingly by Orks, though they probably fill theirs out with an inferior product like squig droppings or fungus cuttings or something like that
- Frenzon: A common combat drug that makes people fearless and crazy in combat.
- Fenrisian Ale (Mjød): A type of alcohol beverage from Fenris that is soooooo toxic it can even intoxicate an Astartes. Still does not stop the frigging space wolves from competing each others with it. Although the Astartes are unable to get drunk from any alcohol beverages of the Imperium due to their implanted kidney gene seeds, they can from the ale due to a very special toxic from a Fenrisian plant life that temporarily neutralises the Kidney implant of an Astartes. When Space Wolves offer other non-Space Wolves chapters their drink, they have to make sure to add some anti-toxin in the mix in order to not kill their
less manly cousins+++LION FOR LIFE DOG FUCKERS!!!+++
- Juvenat Drugs: Extend your lifespan. Available to the rich and beautiful and others in power, usually Guard generals, churchmen, and nobles. Heavily implied to be made of children. Also depicted as being part of various surgical procedures to achieve the same effect. Their effect isn't indefinite as the treatment's start having diminishing returns after a while, although life can easily enough (with enough money and, ugh, babies) be extended past two centuries with women so modified often being described as still being beautiful but noticeably having had "work done."
- Kalma: If you need to make a man stoned off his ass, this is your drug. Sometimes used by Astartes and the Mechanicum to keep unruly ship serfs in line.
- Lho-Stick: Future version cigarettes. Lho is implied to be a tobacco or marijuana analogue depending on how PG-rated the authors are. Also considered to be the smaller, lesser version of cigar, often smoked by measly soldiers who, despite standard issue balls of steel, are still bent over and railed by an uncaring colossal behemoth that only sends them to die somewhere and only seek some form of release. It makes up by being as addictive as nicotine, and depending on which regiment you're in, you either get shot or given more of this stuff. Go figure.
- Obscura: Drug introduced in Dan Abnett's works, which spread to become the number one illegal drug of the grimdark future. Either smoked or injected, Obscura causes a pleasant dream-like sensation, but after the high is over leaves the user depressed and wanting more. A clear analogue to opium or even heroin.
- Recaff: Grimdark era Coffee, or at least something caffienated. Varies from fancy samovar brewed stuff served in thimble glasses to awful bivvie tin mugs served to the guard in the trenches with stimms poured on the top like a latte. It's unknown if they actually come from organic material like beans and leaves or is chemically reconstituted (the Mechanicum, it seems, prefer the latter method.) Most likely it is some sort of ersatz "coffee" (the British in WW2 had a number of substitutes made from various plants, beans, and nuts) with caffeine (or perhaps something a bit stronger) added chemically.
- Sacra : Tanith derived alcoholic drink, understandably rare since the planet got wiped. Inferred to be rough homebrewed spirit, probably similar to Poitín, given the gaelic influences on the Tanith.
- Slaught: A combat drug, those who use it are said to be "On-slaught" (and ready to "slaught-er"), which is a mildly clever word play. It makes people much more aware and faster, with the unfortunate side-effect of 'roid-rage. The Redeemer called it "Sacred Libation and Unguent which Gives Heart to the Terrified".
- Stimm: Generic name for various combat drugs/painkillers for the 41st millennium. Always make sure your Power Armor has enough. Increases awareness and alertness while diminishing felt pain and possibly treating shock (like epinephrine/adrenaline) letting you go on fighting not conceding to your enemies that you're dead. There seem to be many kinds. Think the berserker juice from Doom.
- Other combat drugs, such as used by the Dark Eldar, Lucius, Bob and the prevalent in the IIIth as a whole, go even beyond this to include shit like extracts from Tyranid spores and daemon blood. Will wreck your enemy's shit real bad by means of wrecking yours.
- Spook: Magic Mushrooms crossed with Soylent Green. Magic is rather apt in the case as using it results in psychic abilities developing or, rarely, the users soul in the warp crossing over into their material body. More often than not, the person's life gets sucked into the warp instead. It's been given a number of origin stories but most often said to be made (perhaps exclusively) on Necromunda by mutated fungi infesting ancient synthration food (read: compacted human protein, NO not THAT kind of human protein. Braaaaains.) Seeing as it can allow anyone to open a conduit straight to the warp, the Imperium mega-murders anyone caught making, selling, and / or using it. It can be used recreationally or to give a psyker a power up. Both dangerous as fuck.
- Yellodes: Also from Dan Abnett's works. A "mind expanding" drug (think psychedelics), sometimes used by heretics diving into the mindbending lore of the Warp to, like, understand, man. Probably grimdark Ecstasy to spook's grimdark LSD/shrooms.
Warp Dust
Hell-cocaine. But only Kaldor Draigo and Matt Ward sniff it, because THEY MAKE IT HAPPEN. This is probably why Draigo believes he could just burn down some nasty old man's garden or smash into the fortress of impossible. Warp Dust, not even once. Doomrider says you're a faggot.
The Companitas
The drug cartel of the 40k A cult of drug-using chaos heretics dedicated to Slaanesh. They used a drug that could induce a hysterical state in the user and could even bring the deceased back to life for short periods. Like all Slaanesh cult, they like to have fun by placing the corpses of the royal imperial citizen in rendering plants to burn the bodies to ash, then placed this ash in air-burst warheads and exploded them all over those cities on the world that remained loyal to the Imperium. Sadly, they were pwned by the Flesh Tearers.
Drugs in Star Wars
In Star Wars, most drugs are known as spice. Alcohol, caffeine (though obtained from "caf" beans instead of coffee or tea) and tobacco (or an analogue for it: the only things to actually call the stuff in cigars and cigarettes "tobacco" are some really early books already notorious for not really fitting into the universe stylistically) exist, but they seem to not count as spice. During Republic and Imperial control most spice is illegal. This has created a large network of smugglers willing to supply the people. This network was further augmented by the Empire's high tariffs (to pay for its new standing army) on mundane goods allowing smuggling to be seen as heroic, even if they also smuggled drugs.
Star Wars D6, Star Wars D20 and Saga Edition assume drugs are largely background fluff or a plot device. Edge of the Empire on the other hand assumes the player characters will be drug dealers to some degree and just about every book included details on new spice. This involvement could be as small as looting drugs captured from enemies and selling them to criminal contacts or the entire campaign/adventure being about spice smuggling.
Avabush Spice
Derived from the prickly Avabush plant that is common on Baros but virtually unheard of elsewhere. It causes relaxation, lethargy and truthfulness.
Bacta
Not a spice, but absolutely a medicinal drug. This fluid made by the insectoid Vratix is basically healing magic in space. Can cure anything from physical wounds to disease given sufficient amounts of it. No indication has been made of a bacta addiction being a thing.
Bacta is relatively new to the galaxy, only being discovered ~4100 years before the Battle of Yavin and post-dating the Republic (founded 25,053 years before the battle of Yavin). It was proceeded by Kolto, which was made from deep sea seaweed. Kolto's artificially high prices from monopolistic control backfired when the more effective and cheaper bacta became known. It faded from galactic memory and could only keep a small marketshare as a weaker, cheaper substitute or for those poor bastards with allergies to bacta.
Booster Blue
Huffing this starship paint (it actually is paint, or at least a component of it) leads to enhanced agility and thinking, but causes high strain on the body.
Death Sticks
The only type of spice actually mentioned by name in the films. Ground alien mushroom suspended in liquid. Mildly hallucinogenic but has severe health detriments. Unusually Death Sticks are not illegal on most planets, merely restricted, paralleling tobacco.
Glitterstim
"Mined" in the prison mines of Kessel. It's actually the ground up webs of alien spiders. Allegedly gives telepathy. Since it provably increases sensitivity it is frequently combined with other spice.
Most Glitterstim goes through official channels to be used in legitimate medical drugs. The Kessel Run instead focuses on smuggling it out of Kessel through an un-patrolled but hazardous back door full of black holes. Completing the Kessel Run requires a fast ship to avoid being pulled into a black hole, with really fast ships able to get closer to the black holes without dieing horribly (this is why Han Solo's completion is measured in a unit of distance. Even though the script and Obi-Wan's reaction show Han is just trying to bullshit the farmboy this has become accepted Star Wars lore because Aspergers is a thing.).
During the New Republic the mines are openly run by paid volunteers. The fact that such prominent figures as Nien Nunb, Lando and Mara Jade are involved in running it suggests the New Republic has a much friendlier drug policy that its predecessor, likely because the Alliance depended so heavily on smugglers..
Lesai
Derived from a fungus that grows on lizards native to the Zebitrope system. Is temporarily removes the need to sleep, but causes high dependency.
Ryll
Actually mined on Ryloth, the home planet of the Twi'lek. It causes hallucinations and memory loss. The fact that it's the only non-slave export for the planet kept anti-drug crusaders away from it till the Imperial era, which banned it. The New Republic combined it with Bacta to create a cure for the horrific Krytos Virus.
Yarrock
Berserker... something grown by old Zabrak Shamans. What it actually is was never detailed. Quite rare off its home planet.
IRL drugs
- Krokodil: (Addiction Rating: Medium, Fort DC: 10) A homemade drug created by the fucking Russians, "krokodil" is the street name for desomorphine, which is basically the poor man's heroin. Because the homemade recipe calls for all sorts of nasty shit like iodine and phosphorous and there's no quality control, the price you pay for a cheap high is Nurgle's blessing: tissue damage that leaves you looking like a discount Plaguebearer. Also a short life expectancy (2-3 years).
- Cocaine: (Addiction Rating: Medium , Fort DC: 10) I DO COCAINE!!!!1!!! Originally used by Colombian natives who chewed the leaves of the coca plant. Your friendly neighborhood drug dealer probably sells the freebase "crack" cocaine, which is a cocaine compound that contains baking soda, sugar, salt, sand, ground glass, and whatever else he can use to bulk out his supply and sell you less for more. Snowflame's weapon of choice.
- Bath Salts: (Addiction Rating: High, Fort DC: 14) Best shit ever created. It turns a person into a Blood Angels or Sons of Malice marine. Not to be confused with actual bath salts.
- Mountain Dew: (Addiction Rating: Negligible, Fort DC: 4) A soda drink known for its high caffeine and sugar. It should be consumed with Doritos in the name of pope Geoff Keighley. Side effects may include tooth decay, acid-reflux, and insomnia.
- Opium: (Addiction Rating: Low, Fort DC: 6) The dried latex harvested from the opium poppy is one of the oldest drugs known in human history. Morphine is the principal psychoactive component of opium, which has legitimate medicinal uses but most developed nations heavily regulate it. It can be further refined into diacetylmorphine, better known as heroin.
- Alcohol: "I am not an Alcoholic I am a drunk, Alcoholics go to meetings." There is much debate whether or not Alcohol is considered to be a drug or if it is considered to be a Food and Drink [1]. when it is used in moderation it can be fun but when it is used in extreme it has some of effects to that of a drug. Consuming enough of this substance tends to result in a loss of inhibition, causing people to do stuff they're normally too shy or smart to do. Depending on the person, this drunken behavior can range from silly, to depressed, to mean. The last, and probably most important, thing to note about alcohol is not its effects, but what happens when they wear off after having drunk too much: a massive headache similar to a migraine known to many as a "hangover".
- Psychedelics: acid, mushrooms, IRL spook.
Drug Addiction
The effects of drug addiction and a list of additional drugs can be found in the Book of Vile Darkness [2]
Gallery
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Order your warp dust now, and get mindfucked for free!
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Warp Dust is GOOOOOOOD.
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Slaanesh cults' own equivalent of the Butcher's Nails.
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Normally, we would go to rehabilitation centre if we have drug addiction. In the Grimdark future, however, only the commissar can cure your addiction.
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Lucius's awesome slurpy-machine. Do not steal! As you can see from the fluff text this is some hard core shit even Mick Jagger would look probably askance at.