Drug Slang: Common Street Names for Illicit Drugs

Drug Slang: Common Street Names for Illicit Drugs

Drug slang and street terms for illegal drugs.

There are many slang and street names for illegal drugs. The drug culture has developed its own language, in which seemingly normal words can take on entirely different meanings.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has compiled a list of more than 2,300 terms that mean something different in the drug culture: street terms that refer to specific types of drugs or drug-related activities. .

What is the language of drugs?

People who use or sell drugs develop their own terms and language within the group, just like any other group of people with a common experience. Some terms are simply designed to hide the topic of conversation from possible prying eyes.

Slang terms come from a wide variety of sources. They may include the physical appearance and/or type of drug, its origin, the effect it has on users, or the way it is packaged for sale.

Drug slang

Some slang terms can be applied to many different drugs. For example, someone riding the wave or bobbing their head is under the influence of drugs (usually not a specific substance). To inject drugs with a syringe is to inject, spike, shoot, or spike the drug. Someone who whistles snorts drugs, while an addict is someone on a mission to find crack (but tweek is a substance similar to methamphetamine).

While drug jargon is constantly changing, certain terms are associated with specific types of drugs. These may vary by community or region.

Curse
There are literally hundreds of slang or street names for marijuana or cannabis. Many terms were derived from the origin of the drug, the effect of marijuana on users, or the appearance of the transformed plant.

Some of the marijuana slang confuses geographic location with the appearance of the transformed plant. Some of the following names have become “trade names” for the drug.

Red Acapulco
African, African Black, African Shrub, African Bush
Afghan indica
Canadian black
Thai Chocolate
Black Colon
Colombian
Hawaiian homemade hay
Hawaiian black
Indian hay
Indian hemp
Jamaican gold
Jamaican red hair
kentucky blue
Kona gold
manhattan money
Mexican Brown, Mexican Green, Mexican Locoweed, Mexican Red
Pakistani Black, Panama Gold, Panama Red
Texas and Mexican
Texan tea

Terms based on appearance
Black Bart, Black Canyon
blue sage
Blond
Golden
Green, Green Goddess, Green Buds
Sheet
Queen Anne’s lace
red button
Terms based on effects
youth killer
Little sister
weeping grass
crazy weed
Dinkie Dow
tall and dry
weed giggle
smoking laugh
joy smoke
Cheerful green
killer grass
Laughing grass Laughing grass
love weed
crazy weed
magic smoke
Laughing weed Laughing weed
seedless
crazy weed

Terms based on packaging
ball
Doob, Doobie, Doobee, Dube
finger cap
grass brownies
Bread slice
The number
Word-based terms
Aunt Mary, Mary Ann, M.J., Mary Jane, Mary Jonas, Mary Ann, Mary and Johnny, Mary, Mary Warner, Weaver
Meggie, Megg, Med
Joana, Juanita
jar
refrigerated
rope
Tea
Gram

Names used to deceive
ashes
artificial grass
Hitting
pub
bammy
Bo-Bo, Bo
Broccoli
red cocktail
head flower
Haircut
Gram
brats
muggles
mutha
muggles
rainy day woman
skunk
sticky
sweet Lucia
Yellow Submarine

Cocaine
At the height of its use in the 1970s and 1980s, cocaine began to influence many aspects of American culture. Glamorized in music, movies and disco culture, cocaine has become a popular recreational drug. Some of the street names, slang and nicknames given to cocaine at the height of its popularity are now part of the American lexicon.

Cocaine starts out as the green leaves of the coca plant, but when it reaches consumers it is a white flaky powder (or hard white crack-shaped rocks). The appearance of the drugs was the basis for many of its street names or nicknames. Some names used for cocaine are based on the geographic origin of the drug, or at least the perceived geographic origin of the drug.

exploit
Coca
Cocaine
crack
large flake, Peruvian flake, Peruvian
peruvian, peruvian lady, peruvian snowflake
Snow, Snow White, Florida Snow
glass of soda
Terms based on effects
There are other names for cocaine that are derived from how the drug affects its users. The potency or purity of the drug also gave rise to many of its colorful nicknames and street names.

Among them are:

big rush
bouncing powder
crack
playful dust
Happy things
Happy trails, happy dust, happy dust
love affair
Mars Dust, Mars Dust
Nose powder, nose bullet, nose things
Paradise
Terms based on people and characters.
For most illegal drugs, some of the street names used to refer to cocaine resemble people’s names, at least in part to mask the topic of conversation. Some of these nicknames are loosely based on the word “cocaine,” while others seem to have no logical connection.

Among them are:

aunt nora
angie
Bernie, Bernice
Billie Hoke
Cecilia
Carrie Nation Carrie
Choose
lewd
charly
Corrina, Corrina
Henry VIII
Your
hello hello
snow lady
Merck, Merck
Women
Snow
Schmeck
Scottish
serpico 21
Games with the word “cocaine”.
Some of the street names for cocaine are derived simply from the word “cocaine” itself, or puns on the word “cocaine” or “coke”.

Big C, C-Game, C
Coke
Coco, Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Mama
Mrs. Cain
Misleading street names
Finally, there are dozens of cocaine slang terms that seem to be based on no other criteria than being misleading. These names are used by cocaine users to hide the subject of their drug conversations in case others overhear them.

These terms include:

Base
base
beards
bazulco
Shine
Boy
burese
Carney
sweet c
has arrived
C-dust
Cold
Set
Behavior
snob
the parakeet
Goop
mosquitoes
Crazy
teenager
tartar dust
flammable
flammable
Zambia

Heroin
Some of the slang terms for heroin are based on the appearance of the drug when it is cut and packaged for street sale. Some terms are based on the color of the drug and others on its composition.

Among them are:

Big H, capital H
Black Eagle, Black Pearl, Black Tar, Black Tar
goat
Hell Dust
Horse, Galloping Horse, Good Horse, Mexican Horse, Mexican Horse
Black
slap
Thunder
White stuff, white nurse, white trash

depressants
When prescription drugs hit the streets to be sold for abusive or non-medical purposes, they are often assigned street names. This is the case with depressants-barbiturates and benzodiazepines-which are drugs prescribed as sedatives or tranquilizers to treat anxiety and insomnia.

Terms based on appearance
As with many drugs and drugs, nicknames are often derived from the appearance of the drug. In the case of depressants, many street names refer to the color or colors of the pills or capsules.

Among them are:

blue balls
bluebirds
blue angels
blue tips
blue skies
blue dolls
blue devil
green frogs
green dragons
red marshmallow
pink ladies
red balls
red and blue
Rainbows
red
strawberries

Effect-based terms
Another common source for the street name of a drug is the effect it has on the user. Because barbiturates and benzodiazepines act by depressing the central nervous system, many depressant slang names refer to deceleration.

blockers
circuit breakers
depressant
double penalty
wrinkle
strong dream
nice
silly pills
elongated
swimsuit
corks
Word games with real names
In the case of depressants, one of the most common sources of nicknames comes from the actual names of the drugs. Many depressant street names are shortened or alternate versions of their brand or generic names. For example:

Barbie
beard
bamboos
Luds
ludes
nimbus
nemes
Nebbies
BTT
phenomena
Fenia
Marry
soft ball
seggy
In court
Soup
kill
calm
small parts
Instruments
Cultural or family references
Some drug names come from how, when, and where they are used. Cultural references and colloquial usage can become nicknames for sedatives and tranquilizers, as well as other drugs. Among them are:

christmas rolls
corals
dolls
disco crackers
gangster pills
gorilla pills
Fictional people and characters.
Almost all drugs of abuse have a group of nicknames that refer to fictional people or characters. Some of these are logical uses of the name, while others do not seem to make sense. The same is true of some depressing street names.

mickey finnish
king kong pills
mom’s helper
Mighty young joe
mickey
Purely misleading names
Like most drug slang, some depressant nicknames have origins that don’t seem to make sense. Apparently, the names were created only to obfuscate the topic of conversation. These terms include: Upside Down, Coral, Joy Juice, Jellies, and Peth.

amphetamines
Amphetamines have a long list of slang names based on appearance, the effect of the drug and, of course, names for purely misleading purposes.

What Is Drug Slang

Slang terms based on appearance
Amphetamines are sold in pill form and can come in several different colors with corresponding slang names.

black and white
black beauties
black birds
black bombers
Black Mollies
Black
blue boys
Brownies
bees
White square
French blues
hearts
oranges
peaches
pink hearts
pink
roses
snow cones
white white
Terms based on effects
Amphetamines are stimulants, so many slang terms for these drugs refer to this mimetic effect.
amplifiers
brain tickles
cartwheels
co-drivers
Coast to coast
Formerly
drugs in the head
Beans happy
thieves
cap accessories
Lightning
marathons
stimulant pills
elves
balancing
rippers
road drugs
instant
too much glitter
flames
drivers
truck driver
Your turn
On top of
Uppies
alarm clocks
zooms in
misleading terms
Some terms for amphetamines may be based on prescription drugs (such as dexies and diet pills). Or the origins may be unclear, but the intent is often to conceal drug-taking behavior. Drug Slang

dumps
benz
chicken broth powder
Cristina
Cross
cross lids
cross
dominoes
betrayal
five
Soccer balls
horse heads
cecil jam
baby jelly
pitchers
mini-benjenas
nuggets
splash
shrapnel

methamphetamine
Like amphetamine, methamphetamine (meth) also has a variety of colorful street names, often based on the appearance or effects of the drug. These terms include

accordion
water
batu
Blue
bluebell ice cream
paste
christian
clear
clothes cleaner
crank
Cream
shout-shout
wrinkle
risk
Cryptography
Crystal
Shine
strange
Glass
go fast
Hawaiian salt
A glass
A. Ice
lemons
lemon drop
Motor
Peanut butter crank
Popsicle stick
Violet
shards
Break
big ice cream
walking zombie
witch teeth
yellow barn

Ecstasy or MDMA
Some of the more colorful jargon is used for ecstasy or MDMA, regarding the name of the drug, how it works and what it looks like. These terms include:

Adam
baby slots
beans
ass juice
Candy
Chocolate chips
clarity
dancing shoes
decadence
disco cookies
pigeons
electron bomb
Y
happiness pills
drug hug
love drug
love trip
malcom
girl
Scooby Snacks
bowling game
cracks
smart
speed for lovers
this
vitamin e
vitamin x
XTC

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