Resource Post #5: A Writer's Guide to Drugs (Both Real and Fictional)
Jumping the queue for a requested topic!
Drug use is a recurring topic in both Arrow and Green Arrow comics canon; in just the first season we've seen Thea repeatedly act out via party drugs, with all the problems that brought and had a recurring villain who made his name in the drug trade. Meanwhile, on the comics side of the canon one of the most famous Green Arrow stories is the early 70's two-parter Snowbirds Don't Fly, where it's revealed that Roy "Speedy" Harper, Green Arrow's teenage sidekick, is addicted to heroin. It was a landmark story at the time and part of a shift toward more socially conscious stories as comics began to ease out of the Silver Age.
(Thea isn't a character in the comics canon (or at least isn't yet!), so her inheriting the Speedy nickname and the associated drug problems are a callback to Snowbirds.)
Real World Drugs
If you're looking to include any of the drugs that can be found in real life, from pot all the way up to heroin, this is the only site you will ever need: http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/psychoactives.shtml. Bookmark it, use it, love it; Erowid is a treasure trove of pharacutical knowledge. A search for virtually any drug brings up clear pictures, general information, advice, testimonials, journal articles, popular media coverage and suggestions for further reading.
Just as an example, here's the entry for peyote.
DC Comics Specific Drugs
(This is a small sampling limited to the more common fictional street drugs; comics canon has a number of drugs and potions that give super powers - Miraclo, for example, the drug that give Hourman his powers - or are specific to certain powersets or other planets. Check out the full list here.)
Vertigo: The good Count's concoction is Arrow-specific (Comics!Count generally has vertigo-causing powers. And a hilarious costume!) and it hasn't been explained exactly what he mixed together to make it. We've seen that it causes disorientation and a "floaty" euphoria when taken in pill form while when injected overstimulates the thalamus to cause agony and eventual cardiac arrest. What's precisely in it is up for grabs - ecstasy is probably a good guess, but the particulars are tailor-made for writer's license.
Venom: A highly addictive super-steroid; it's usually injected into the base of the neck and results in an immediate boost in muscle mass. Continued use results in heightened aggression, paranoia and an increasing preoccupation with getting more venom. Withdrawal is debilitating and nasty, physical pain from muscle loss coupled with hallucinations. Batman once got himself hooked on Venom, and it's the drug that let Bane do what he does for most of his comics run. The Arkham games feature Titan, an even more souped-up version of Venom, because that's a thing science needed to make happen.
Chuckles: a Gotham street drug derived from Joker toxin; causes, as one might expect, euphoria and impulse control issues.
Katies: also known as KT-28, a psychiatric drug (probably lithium or cut with lithium) that's become a street drug in the Watchmen universe.
Fear Gas: a powerful hallucinogen that shows uses their worst fears and phobia. Scarecrow's main tool and yet another Gotham street drug.
Want to request a resource post? Comment here!
Drug use is a recurring topic in both Arrow and Green Arrow comics canon; in just the first season we've seen Thea repeatedly act out via party drugs, with all the problems that brought and had a recurring villain who made his name in the drug trade. Meanwhile, on the comics side of the canon one of the most famous Green Arrow stories is the early 70's two-parter Snowbirds Don't Fly, where it's revealed that Roy "Speedy" Harper, Green Arrow's teenage sidekick, is addicted to heroin. It was a landmark story at the time and part of a shift toward more socially conscious stories as comics began to ease out of the Silver Age.
(Thea isn't a character in the comics canon (or at least isn't yet!), so her inheriting the Speedy nickname and the associated drug problems are a callback to Snowbirds.)
Real World Drugs
If you're looking to include any of the drugs that can be found in real life, from pot all the way up to heroin, this is the only site you will ever need: http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/psychoactives.shtml. Bookmark it, use it, love it; Erowid is a treasure trove of pharacutical knowledge. A search for virtually any drug brings up clear pictures, general information, advice, testimonials, journal articles, popular media coverage and suggestions for further reading.
Just as an example, here's the entry for peyote.
DC Comics Specific Drugs
(This is a small sampling limited to the more common fictional street drugs; comics canon has a number of drugs and potions that give super powers - Miraclo, for example, the drug that give Hourman his powers - or are specific to certain powersets or other planets. Check out the full list here.)
Vertigo: The good Count's concoction is Arrow-specific (Comics!Count generally has vertigo-causing powers. And a hilarious costume!) and it hasn't been explained exactly what he mixed together to make it. We've seen that it causes disorientation and a "floaty" euphoria when taken in pill form while when injected overstimulates the thalamus to cause agony and eventual cardiac arrest. What's precisely in it is up for grabs - ecstasy is probably a good guess, but the particulars are tailor-made for writer's license.
Venom: A highly addictive super-steroid; it's usually injected into the base of the neck and results in an immediate boost in muscle mass. Continued use results in heightened aggression, paranoia and an increasing preoccupation with getting more venom. Withdrawal is debilitating and nasty, physical pain from muscle loss coupled with hallucinations. Batman once got himself hooked on Venom, and it's the drug that let Bane do what he does for most of his comics run. The Arkham games feature Titan, an even more souped-up version of Venom, because that's a thing science needed to make happen.
Chuckles: a Gotham street drug derived from Joker toxin; causes, as one might expect, euphoria and impulse control issues.
Katies: also known as KT-28, a psychiatric drug (probably lithium or cut with lithium) that's become a street drug in the Watchmen universe.
Fear Gas: a powerful hallucinogen that shows uses their worst fears and phobia. Scarecrow's main tool and yet another Gotham street drug.
Want to request a resource post? Comment here!