💊 Drugs & Addiction

“Drugs are dangerous and messing with them will probably mess up your Character for the long term.” — Cyberpunk RED Core Rulebook

In Night City, street drugs are everywhere — vendits, fixers, that guy in the alley who definitely isn’t a cop. They offer real mechanical benefits (stat boosts, pain suppression, enhanced focus), but every high has a price. Fail one roll and you’re addicted, burning eddies just to feel normal.

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🎲 How Drugs Work

Step 1: Taking Drugs

Taking a drug requires an Action and an Airhypo (50eb, reusable injector). You can dose yourself or a willing target.

Hostile administration: Make a Melee Attack with an Airhypo. On a hit, the drug takes effect instead of dealing damage.

Step 2: Primary Effect

The drug’s benefit activates immediately and lasts for the listed Duration. Taking a second dose before the primary wears off extends the duration by the full amount (no stacking of effects).

Step 3: Secondary Effect (Addiction Roll)

When the primary effect ends, you must roll:

WILL + Resist Torture/Drugs + 1d10 vs. Drug's Secondary DV

• Beat the DV: You’re fine. The drug wears off cleanly.
• Fail the DV: You’re now addicted. The drug’s Secondary Effect kicks in — usually a stat penalty that persists until you either take more of the drug or get clean.

Addiction Is a Trap

Most drugs give you +1 to +2 to a stat while active, but -2 to that same stat when addicted and sober. So you take more to feel normal, which means another addiction roll when it wears off… which you now fail more easily because your stats are worse.

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📋 Drug Reference Table

Stat-Boosting Drugs

Drug	Price	Duration	Primary Effect	Addiction DV	Addiction Penalty
Synthcoke	20eb	4 hours	+1 REF + paranoia	DV15	-2 REF when sober
Boost	50eb	24 hours	+2 INT	DV17	-2 INT when sober
Prime Time	50eb	24 hours	+2 COOL, +2 WILL	DV17	-2 COOL when sober
Six Gun	100eb	1 hour	+2 REF (combat monster)	DV17	-2 REF when sober

Combat / Pain Drugs

Drug	Price	Duration	Primary Effect	Addiction DV	Addiction Penalty
Black Lace	50eb	24 hours	Ignore Seriously Wounded, 2d6 temp HL	DV17	-2 REF, permanent HL
Berserker	100eb	1 hour	+2 BODY, ignore pain	DV17	-2 COOL when sober
Emerald City	50eb	4 hours	Ignore Seriously Wounded	DV15	-2 WILL when sober
Timewarp	100eb	1 round	+3 Initiative for 1 turn	DV15	-2 REF when sober

Recreational / Utility Drugs

Drug	Price	Duration	Primary Effect	Addiction DV	Addiction Penalty
Smash	10eb	4 hours	Euphoria, feeling great	DV15	-2 to social/creative Skills
Blue Glass	20eb	4 hours	Vivid hallucinations (“flashing out”)	DV15	”Flash out” during tasks (lose Actions)
Basewatch	50eb	4 hours	+2 Perception/Tracking	DV15	-2 COOL in social situations

Special Drugs

Drug	Price	Effect	Notes
Piranha Smash	10eb	Euphoria + extreme aggression	Cheap gangbanger drug. Withdrawal = violent rage
Immunoblockers	100eb	Suppresses immune response	Required for some implants. DV21 addiction

Best Drugs for Edgerunners

• Going loud? Six Gun (+2 REF) or Berserker (+2 BODY) — but the DV17 addiction risk is steep.
• Need to think? Boost (+2 INT) for hacking, investigation, or planning. 24-hour duration is forgiving.
• Budget option? Synthcoke is cheap and common, but +1 REF isn’t worth the -2 REF addiction spiral.
• Never take: Black Lace costs permanent Humanity Loss on a failed roll. Cyberpsychosis in a syringe.

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🔓 Getting Clean: Curing Addiction

Once addicted, you have three options:

Option 1: Addiction Therapy (Most Common)

Cost	DV	Time	Who Rolls	Effect
1,000eb	15	1 week	Therapist	Addiction cured. Stat penalties removed.

On failure, try again after another week (pay again). See Recovery: Therapy.

Option 2: Rapidetox (Emergency)

A Medtech with the Pharmaceuticals sub-ability can administer Rapidetox, which immediately purges the drug’s primary effects. This stops the primary effect early but does not cure addiction — you still need therapy for that.

Option 3: Cold Turkey

The CRB doesn’t have explicit “cold turkey” rules. As written, addiction is permanent until treated by a therapist. The GM may allow extended roleplaying of withdrawal for narrative purposes, but mechanically, therapy is the cure.

Addiction Stacks

You can be addicted to multiple drugs simultaneously. Each addiction applies its penalty independently. An edgerunner addicted to both Synthcoke (-2 REF) and Boost (-2 INT) is walking around with REF -2 and INT -2 unless actively dosed on both.

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❓ Quick Answers

Can I take two different drugs at once?

Yes. Primary effects stack. But when each wears off, you roll separately for addiction. Two rolls, two chances to get hooked.

Does taking more doses make addiction worse?

Mechanically, no. You’re either addicted or not. But each time the drug wears off, you roll again — if already addicted, another failure doesn’t add a “double addiction.”

Can I use drugs on an unwilling target?

Yes. Make a Melee Attack with an Airhypo. On a hit, the drug takes effect instead of dealing damage.

Do drugs interact with cyberware?

Not directly by CRB rules. Major exceptions: Black Lace causes Humanity Loss, and Immunoblockers are needed for some implants.

Where do I buy drugs?

Street dealers (10-50eb/dose), Night Markets, or fixers for the expensive stuff. See 🛒 Where to Buy Things.

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🔗 Related Topics

• Humanity — Therapy and addiction cure costs
• Medtech — Rapidetox and pharmaceutical abilities
• Drugs — Resisting forced drug administration
• Healing — Recovery between gigs

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(Source: Cyberpunk RED Core Rulebook, pp. 227-228)