- Severe
- A man is implied to be a heroin addict. He is never shown using it but it is talked about.
- A woman is implied to be a heroin addict. It is never shown but is talked about.
- This game takes place around the same time that the smoking ban in New York City was first being implemented. One of the characters in-game ignores the law and smokes cigarettes in a bar and numerous characters make dialogue references to this.
- One of the characters is seen pretty often smoking a marijuana joint and is said to be a dealer.
- There is one mission where you must find a stolen bag of cocaine although the substance is never shown you see the bag with white powder in it.
- Players can become intoxicated and drive. The game penalizes the player for doing so by making it difficult to steer and drive, and any nearby police will also converge on the player if this attempted. The option to hail a taxi is given, but due to inability to walk properly, it is made very difficult to actually do this, which may lead some players to simply try to drive.