Substance Abuse in Comics

As an industry which has traditionally been focused on a younger audience, certain social statements have occasionally been issued by the comic book companies through stories involving comic book characters. As such drug use is almost universally regarded as a dangerous activity that affects not only the individual but also facilitates a criminal industry.

Drug use in comics usually takes the form of abuse through minor characters associated with major characters. Well known exceptions to this are Tony Stark's battle with alcohol and Roy Harper's battle with heroin. Certain other drugs are occasionally portrayed as well, including fictional ones such as venom (which Batman broke a dependence on at one point.)

Drugs are one of the aspects of crime which is continually displayed accurately, as not only does the use of drugs have negative social, psychological, and physiological effects on the user, but that the use of drugs facilitates international cartels of suppliers and adds significantly to street crime.

Anti-Drug Messages

Throughout the years, many anti-drug advertisments and public service announcements have appeared in the pages of comics. Spider-Man is often used in anti-drug (as well as other PSAs), many of which have been collected in Spider-Man Fights Substance Abuse.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy teamed up with Marvel Comics to make a four part anti-drug campaign with Spider-Man as the main hero known as Marvel Comics' Fast Lane. It was published in many Marvel comics as well as magazines throughout 1999-2000.