Phlebotinum Dependence: Difference between revisions

* Played with in '''[[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Symbiosis_<!-- 28episode29%28episode%29 Symbiosis]]''', a first season episode of ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration[[Star Trek the Next Generation]]''. The Ornarans contracted a plague two hundred years earlier, and believe they need continued "treatments" provided by the Brekkans to stay alive. Upon witnessing two Ornarans receiving a "treatment", Dr. Crusher instantly realizes that the "treatment" is actually a ''narcotic''; the plague is long gone, but the Ornarans find withdrawal so traumatic that they're sure that they're still sick - not to mention that [[DrugsAreBadDrugs Are Bad|the drugs are making them so stupid]] they can no longer effectively perform basic maintenance on their ships, let along think clearly about the plague. The Brekkans are fully aware of this, but no longer need to work as long as they can trade the "treatments" for Ornaran goods. While the [[{{Alien Non-Interference Clause}} |Prime Directive]] forbids [[TheCaptainThe Captain|Picard]] from revealing the truth to the wronged race, he finds a way to correct the situation by refusing repairs to their few remaining ships. Without the ships, they will have no way to get the "treatments" and will eventually realize they're not actually sick. -->

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