5. Substance Abuse
The major 'substance abuse' plot in
Buffy the Vampire Slayer occurred in season 6. The arc involved Willow using dark magic which was used as a metaphor for drug-use, as she slowly and gradually headed down a path to self-destruction, becoming addicted to the highs associated with magic and doing whatever she could do to get her hands on it. The consequences of her actions included her personality changing, her relationships becoming extremely strained and her actions hurting others - such as when she drove whilst 'high' under the influence of magic and crashed the car she was driving, breaking Dawn's arm in the process and severely angering Buffy and company. It was a very clever way of showing what an addiction to dangerous substances can do to a person and their family and friends without actually showing any drug-use on screen - which may have drawn criticism from parents who were letting their children watch the show. Drug-use was also alluded to on other occasions, such as in the episode
No Place Like Home, where Buffy carries out a spell to learn more about Dawn's origins and the results are quite... trippy, to say the least, and when Riley became addicted to allowing vampires to suck his blood.