Every Major Marijuana Reference in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has featured almost every form of reckless behavior imaginable, but marijuana is not as central to the show as alcohol, cocaine, pills or the gang’s many self-destructive schemes.

Still, the long-running FX/FXX comedy has included several memorable marijuana references, from Gail the Snail offering medical marijuana at a funeral to Country Mac passing around a joint in a planetarium.

Below is a look at the most notable marijuana references in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

One of the show’s earlier marijuana references comes in “Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack,” an episode best known for Dee and Dennis trying to become healthier after Dee suffers a heart attack.

While the episode is not primarily about marijuana, Frank is shown using marijuana during this stretch of the series, including smoking from a water bong. The moment fits Frank’s character perfectly: reckless, excessive and completely uninterested in traditional ideas of health or responsibility.

It also helps establish that Frank’s substance use is broad enough that even the rest of the gang can occasionally see him as out of control — which is saying a lot, given who they are.

“The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention” is one of the show’s clearest marijuana episodes.

The episode begins after Frank embarrasses himself at a funeral, leading Dee, Dennis and Charlie to decide he needs an intervention. But because this is Always Sunny, the intervention quickly becomes less about helping Frank and more about the gang’s own selfish motives.

The marijuana reference comes through Gail the Snail, who casually mentions that she has medical marijuana. The setting makes the joke even more absurd: Gail offers it while everyone is dealing with a family funeral and Frank’s latest public meltdown.

Frank is also shown smoking joints in the episode, making this one of the more direct marijuana-related installments in the series.

“The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore” includes one of the show’s darkest drug-related marijuana jokes.

Dennis and Dee spend the night with a group of people they meet at the shore and believe they are smoking marijuana. They later realize they have actually smoked PCP.

The joke is classic Always Sunny: what begins as a seemingly familiar party-drug setup quickly turns into something far more chaotic and disturbing. It is not a marijuana-use scene in the end, but it is still one of the show’s most direct marijuana-related references because Dennis and Dee initially believe that is what they are smoking.

The episode also fits the show’s broader pattern of taking a relatively normal sitcom premise — a trip to the beach — and turning it into a nightmare.

“Mac Day” is probably the show’s most famous marijuana moment.

The episode introduces Country Mac, Mac’s cooler, more relaxed cousin. During a planetarium scene, Country Mac passes around a joint while Mac tries to deliver a lecture about God and the universe.

The moment works because Country Mac is everything Mac wishes he could be: confident, relaxed, physically capable and completely comfortable with himself. His marijuana use is presented as part of that laid-back identity, contrasting sharply with Mac’s insecurity and constant need for approval.

After the planetarium scene, members of the gang are shown with red eyes and snacks, leaning into the familiar stoner-comedy visual without making the entire episode about marijuana.

“The Gang Buys a Roller Rink” includes a more indirect marijuana reference through its use of the song “I Got 5 on It” by Luniz.

The song, released in the 1990s, is widely associated with marijuana culture, with the title referring to putting $5 toward buying cannabis. Its use in the episode fits the flashback setting and adds another drug-culture reference to the show, even though the episode itself is not centered on marijuana.

Because Always Sunny often relies on background music, throwaway jokes and character behavior as much as direct dialogue, this stands as one of the show’s more subtle cannabis-related references.

Across its run, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has not used marijuana as often as some other sitcoms. But when it does, the references usually fit the show’s chaotic tone: a funeral, a failed intervention, a drug mix-up at the Jersey Shore or a planetarium lecture hijacked by Country Mac.

Rather than treating marijuana as a central part of the gang’s identity, the show uses it as another way to highlight how unstable, selfish and absurd its characters already are.