drug abuse

Drugs on TV have had a strange history. There have been after-school movies, very special sitcom episodes and even entire dramas based around illegal substances.

Sometimes, drug abuse on TV is used to teach the audience a lesson, while other times writers have characters develop an addiction as a way of making them more human in a flawed sense.

One of the most recent drug abusers comes to us in the form of Edie Falco's title character on 'Nurse Jackie.' The medical drama is back with a vengeance (Mon., March 22 10PM on Showtime), and to celebrate the return of our favorite no-nonsense RN, we're taking a look at TV's other famous pill-popping characters we've come to love (despite their issues) over the years.

We're not endorsing drug abuse of any kind, but it's a fact of life for some people, including these TV characters.

Find out who made our list after the jump.

CBS' Without a Trace was among a handful of television programs awarded for its accurate portrayal of drug and alcohol addiction and tobacco use at the 10th annual Prism Awards. Kelly Rowan, relapsing alcoholic on The O.C., George Engel of Everybody Loves Raymond, S. Epatha Merkerson for HBO's Lackawanna Blues, and Lori Loughlin for WB's Summerland all received acting honors at the awards show, which was sponsored by the Entertainment Industries Council, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health and the FX Network. The movie, Walk the Line, also received an award.

If Without a Trace is so realistic, maybe it'll win something for that teen sex orgy scene.