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It’s been about two weeks since the Season 2 finale of Euphoria aired on HBO, HBO Max, and Showmax (South Africa). With many viewers disappointed with the Season after a fiery Season 1, Zendaya once again turned heads with her performance in Season 2 and brought back the former fans of the show, and righteously so because this Season was amazing. But alas, all good things must come to an end, and with a Season 3 looming in the very distant future (ahem, 2023 or 2024), we thought we would take a deep dive into the ‘teen drug abuse’ part of the core themes that make up the hit HBO show. The show addresses themes like sex, mental health, teen drug abuse, addiction, sexuality, and identity.
In the Pilot episode, we already see troubled teenager Rue, played by American actress Zendaya leave rehab with no intention of staying clean and making a purchase from a pint-sized drug dealer named Ashtray. He uses a lot of technical terms for the drugs he sells with his partner Fezco, and we couldn’t help but feel in the dark about some of the drugs mentioned and consumed in the show.
So, we decided to break them down for you in their drug classifications and highlight the dangers of drug abuse and addiction.
Stimulants/Psychedelics
Stimulants can increase productivity and performance while producing an exciting high of pleasure. Psychedelics produce distortions in time and perception. Maddy and Cassie take Molly (MDMA) in Season 1, and there is also Cocaine and Adderall mentioned throughout the series. Illicit stimulants like Cocaine and MDMA (also a psychedelic) are usually snorted, swallowed, smoked, or injected. The effects of stimulant abuse can be amplified to potentially lethal levels, leading to a potential stimulant overdose. Toxic levels of stimulant excitation can result in heart attack, stroke, seizures, or even fatal overheating. Although psychedelic drugs are not associated with the development of physical dependence and a significant risk for the development of addiction, any form of drug can be abused.
Opioids/Opiates
Opioids can cause feelings of intense pleasure and lead to addiction. The main character, Rue, took a lot of Opioids in the show. The Opioids mentioned in the show are; Heroin, Fentanyl, OxyContin, Vicodin, and Morphine. Drug dealer Laurie intentionally injects a withdrawing Rue with Morphine in Season 2, a move that incapacitates her and worsens her addiction.
Opioids, sometimes called narcotics, are a type of drug. They include strong prescription pain relievers, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl, and tramadol. The illegal drug heroin is also an opioid. Some opioids are made from the opium plant, and others are synthetic (man-made). Opioid misuse may sometimes also lead to heroin use because some people switch from prescription opioids to heroin. We see this through Rue, who starts using Heroin in Season 2 after having stuck with prescription opioids throughout Season 1. Opioid addiction is dangerous and can cause side effects such as drowsiness, mental fog, nausea, and constipation. They may also cause slowed breathing, which can lead to overdose deaths.
Benzodiazepines/Benzos
Prescribed to treat many psychiatric and sleep conditions, they’re often abused. Rue mentions being given liquid Valium in Season 1, and she often stole her mother’s Xanax. She also talks about taking copious amounts of ‘Xanny’ bars. Many people underestimate the degree of impairment caused by benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines increase the risk of addiction, withdrawal, cognitive decline, motor vehicle crashes, and hip fracture.
Cannabinoids
Most characters in the show smoke Marijuana, with Maddy humorously saying in Season 2, “Mm-mm, I don’t smoke random people’s weed.” Side effects range from anxiety & paranoia to problems with attention, memory, and coordination. Daily users have a 2% chance of developing schizophrenia in their lives, about double that of the general population, though the risk of other less severe mental health issues is more significant.
Alcohol
Alcohol is the most widely abused substance across most of the world. Most of the students in Euphoria are underage and consume a lot of alcohol. Excessive drinking includes binge drinking, heavy drinking, and any drinking by pregnant women or people younger than 21 or 18 (South Africa). Alcohol can kill liver cells and lead to scarring called cirrhosis. Long-term heavy use of alcohol also may give you alcoholic fatty liver disease, a sign that your liver doesn’t work as well as it should. Alcohol affects the brain’s communication pathways. This makes it harder for you to think and speak clearly, remember things, make decisions, and move your body. Alcohol abuse can also cause mental health issues like depression and dementia.
Other drugs
These drugs were mentioned by Ashtray (RIP) in the Pilot episode:
5-MeO-DIPT (Foxy, Methoxy): Abused for the hallucinogenic effects it produces, Foxy belongs to a class of chemical compounds known as tryptamines. (Other hallucinogenic tryptamines include psilocybin and psilocyn.)
2C-T-2: is a psychedelic substance of the phenethylamine chemical class that produces psychedelic effects when administered.
2C-T-7: A synthetic drug that produces hallucinogenic effects. Its chemical name is 2,5-dimethoxy-4- (n)-propylthiophenethylamine.
Well, there you have it. Many critics judged Euphoria for glamorizing drug use instead of warning against it. Still, after Zendaya defended the show and its true purpose, many people realized that the show was just trying to accurately portray the plight of drug abuse amongst teenagers to the best of its ability. Now, as we await the much-anticipated Season 3, which is expected in mid-to-late 2023 or even early 2024 on HBO, we hope this information has been helpful to you and has made you understand the dangers of drug use and addiction.
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