“If you want to understand society, take a good look at the drugs it uses.” ~Bill Hicks Addiction is a disease that is driven by secrets. In fact, one of the primary signs of a substance abuse disorder is the hiding of one’s alcohol and/or drug use. One of the main ways that alcoholics and drug addicts conceal their usage from law enforcement and from concerned family members and friends is by substituting “code” or “street” names for their drugs of choice. Knowing these names can help you pick up clues from your addicted loved one’s conversations
Street Names for Marijuana
According to surveys conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the percentage of US citizens who self-reported using marijuana within the past year more than doubled between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013, from 4.1% to 9.5%. At the same time, the prevalence of a Cannabis Use Disorder also nearly doubled, from 1.5% to 2.9%. Marijuana is the most-used illicit drug in America, and it has dozens of street names. Some of these names are culture-or-region-specific, and some refer to the actual grade of product.
Marijuana Street Names:
- 420
- 710
- Acapulco Gold
- Afghan
- Ashes
- Bhang
- BHO – for butane hash oil
- Black Rock
- Black Russian
- Blaze
- Block
- Blunt
- Boo
- Boom
- Broccoli
- Bud
- Budder
- Buddha Grass
- Burnie
- Burrito
- Bush
- Charge
- Cheeba
- Chronic
- Colombo
- Cone
- Crumble
- Dagga
- Dank
- Diesel
- Ditch Weed
- Doobie
- Dope
- Draw
- Dry High
- Dutchie
- Endo/Indo
- Dabs
- Dubby
- Earwax
- Edibles – any digestible product containing cannabis
- Errl
- Fatty
- Fire
- Flower
- Gs
- Gage
- Ganja
- Gangster
- Giggleweed
- Granddaddy Purple
- Grape Ape
- Grass
- Hash
- Haze
- Hay
- Hemp
- Herb
- Hog Leg
- Honeycomb
- Honey Oil
- Ice Wax
- Indica
- Jane
- Jelly Hash
- Jive
- Joint
- Kiff
- Kind
- Kush
- Live Resin
- Loco Weed
- Mary/Mary Jane
- Maui Wowie
- Mexican Green
- Mota
- Nectar
- Nug Run
- Nuggets
- OG
- Oil
- Panama Red
- Pankolo
- Pinner
- Pot
- Puff
- Pull ‘n’ Snap
- Purps
- Reefer
- Regs/Reggie
- Resin
- Roach
- Rope
- Sap
- Sativa
- Schwag
- Shatter
- Shit
- Skunk
- Slab
- Smoke
- Spliff
- Stinkweed
- Taffy
- Tea/Texas Tea
- Thai Sticks
- Trim
- Wax
- Weed
- Zip
Heavy or regular marijuana users are referred to as “stoners”, “potheads” or “ents”, and there are many terms used for marijuana paraphernalia:
- Blunt Wraps – rolling papers made of tobacco
- Bong
- Bubbler – a handheld, blown-glass pipe
- Dugout – a small wooden box that holds the marijuana and a pipe
- E-nail – a plug-in device
- Glass-a popular type of pipe
- Grinders – used to break up marijuana clumps
- Heady Glass – high-end glass pipes
- Hookah – a smoking device with multiple hoses that can get several people high at once
- Nail – a metal device that looks like a nail, used for vaporizing
- One-Hitter – a small straight pipe
- Percolator or “perc” – a glass water pipe with an additional water chamber
- Prodo Glass – mass-produced artistic glass pipes
- Roach Clip – a small clamp used for smoking joints
- Vaporizer/Vape Pen
Street Names for Prescription Drugs
According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, there were 55,403 fatal drug overdoses in the United States—many of them due to prescription medications. Some important terms associated with prescription drug abuse include:
- Doctor Shopping – faking an illness or going to several doctors to receive multiple prescriptions
- Pharming – getting high by taking a mixture of prescription drugs
- Pill Ladies – senior citizens – usually women – who sell their medications
The most commonly-abused classes of prescription drugs are:
- Opioid Painkillers
- Benzodiazepine Tranquilizers
- Stimulants for ADHD
Opioid Painkillers: In 2015, 17,536 Americans died because of prescription painkillers.
Oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet)
- 20s/40s/80s
- Beans
- Blue
- Cotton
- Hillbilly Heroin
- Kickers
- Killers
- Os
- Ocean/Ocean Cities Orange County/OCs
- Ox/Oxys
- Oxycoffins
- Rushbos
Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab)
- 357s/387s
- Hydros
- Lorris
- Tabs
- Vics/Vikes/Vicos
- Watsons
Fentanyl
In 2015, there was a 73% increase in the number of fatal overdoses due to synthetic opioids.
- Apache
- China Girl/China Town/China White
- Dance Fever
- Friend
- Goodfellas
- Great Bear
- He-Man
- Jackpot
- King Ivory
- Murder 8
- Perc-a-Pop
- Poison
- TNT
- Tango & Cash
Benzodiazepine Tranquilizers (Benzos)
The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that there was a fivefold increase in the number of benzodiazepine-related fatal overdoses from 2001 to 2014. Alprazolam (Xanax)
- Bars
- Bennies
- Christmas Trees
- Downers
- Footballs
- Goofballs
- Ladders
- Ludes
- Peanuts
- Phennies
- Xs
- Zannies
Diazepam (Valium)
- Blue Vs/Yellow Vs
- Dead Flower Power
- Drunk Pills
- Foofoo
- Old Joes
- Sleep Aways
- Tranks
Lorazepam (Ativan)
- Candy
- Control
- Emotion
- Heavenly Blues
- Nerve Pills
- R2
- Roofies
- Roches
- Stupefy
Zolpidem (Ambien)
- A-minus
- No-Go Pills
- Sleepeasy
- Tic-Tacs
- Zombie Pills
ADHD Stimulants
Nearly two-thirds of college students will be offered prescription stimulants nonmedically at some point in their college careers, and almost one-third will use them, according to a report released by the Center on Young Adult Health and Development. Adderall
- Addys
- Black Beauties
- Dexies
- Pep Pills
- Speed
- Zing
Ritalin
- Coke Junior/Diet Coke
- Jif
- Kibbles and Bits
- Kiddy Cocaine/Coke
- Pineapple
- Poor Man’s Cocaine
- R-Ball/R-Pop
- Skippy
- Skittles
- Smarties
- Study Buddies
- Uppers
- Vitamin R
- West Coast
Street Names for Heroin
2001-2014, there was a sixfold increase in the number of US overdose deaths involving heroin. In 2015 alone, 12,989 people died due to heroin.
Heroin Street Names:
- 3/4/8
- Bad Bundle
- Big H
- Black
- Black Eagle/Black Pearl/Black Stuff/Black Tar
- Blanco
- Bombita
- Bonita
- Boy
- Brea
- Brown
- Brown Crystal/Brownstone/Brown Rhine/Brown Sugar/Brown Tape
- Caballo
- Calbo
- Carga
- Carne
- Chapopote
- Chatarra
- Chiba/Chiva/Chieva
- Chicle
- China White
- Cocofan
- Crap
- Crop
- Dope
- Dragon
- Flea Powder
- Garbage
- Gato
- H
- Hera
- Hero
- Heron
- Horse
- Junk
- La Buena
- Mexican Brown/Mexican Horse/Mexican Mud
- Polvo
- Ragweed
- Sack
- Scag
- Scat
- Skunk
- Smack
- Snow/Snowball
- Tar
- Tecata
- Tigre/Tigre Blanco/Tigre del Norte
- Vidrio
- White Boy/White Girl/White Stuff
- Zoquete
Heroin is frequently used with other drugs:
- Marijuana and Heroin –Woo-Woo, Woolie, Woola, Canade, Atom Bomb
- Alprazolam and Heroin – Bars
- LSD and Heroin – LBJ, Beast
- Crack and Heroin – Moon Rock, Eightball, Dragon Rock, Chocolate Rock, Chasing the Dragon
- Cold Medicine and Heroin – Cheese
- Fentanyl and Heroin – China White
- MDMA and Heroin – H-Bomb, Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Methamphetamines and Heroin – Meth Speedball
- Morphine and Heroin – New Jack Swing, Cotton Brothers
- “the 5 Way” – Alcohol, Rohypnol, Methamphetamines, Cocaine, and Heroin
As part of the “Heroin Mystique” there are other terms associated with the ritual:
- Bag/Balloon – the quantity of heroin
- Chipper – an occasional heroin user
- Cook – to prepare heroin for injection
- Give Wings – to teach someone how to inject themselves with heroin
- Nod/Nodding Out – being under the effect of heroin
- Rig/Point/Works
Street Names for Methamphetamines
Over 11 Million Americans have used methamphetamines at least once. Because it is often made in smaller batches by independent “cooks” using their own “recipes”, there are literally, HUNDREDS of slang terms for methamphetamines, including:
Street Names for Methamphetamines:
- 20/20
- 222
- 417
- Agua
- Albino Poo
- Artie
- Batak
- Bato
- Batu
- Batu Kilat
- Bianca
- Biker Dope
- Billy
- Bitch
- Biznak
- Blanco
- Bling
- Blizzard
- Blue Acid/Blue Funk
- Bomb
- Booger/Booger Sugar
- Boorit-Cebuano
- Boo-Yah
- Bottles
- Brian Ed
- Buff Stick
- Buggs
- Bumps
- Buzzard Dust
- Chach/Chachacha
- Chalk/Chalk Dust
- Chank
- Chicken
- Chingadera
- Choad
- Christina/Christy
- Chunky Love
- Clavo
- Coco
- Coffee
- Cookies
- Cotton Candy
- CR
- Creek Rock
- Cri-Cri
- Cringe
- Critty/Crizzy
- Crotch Dope
- Crow
- Crunk
- Cube
- Crypto
- Crysnax
- Crystal/Crystal Meth
- Crystal Light
- Debbie
- Demonic/D-Monic
- Devil Dust/Devil’s Dandruff/Devil’s Drug
- Dingles
- Dirt/Dirty
- Dizzy D/Dizzle/Dizzo
- Doodah/Doody
- Dope
- Drano
- Dummy Dust
- Dunk
- Dyno
- Epod
- Eraser Dust
- Evil Yellow
- Fatch
- Fedrin
- Fil-layed
- Fizz Wizz
- G/G-Unit
- Gab
- Gagger
- Gak
- Garbage
- Geep
- George
- Getter
- Get Go
- Gina
- Go-Go Juice
- Go Fast
- Gonzales
- Goop
- Hanyak
- Hawaiian Salt
- Hank
- High-Speed Chicken Feed
- Hillbilly Crack/Hippy Crack
- Homework
- Hoo
- Horse Mumpy
- Hironpon
- Hot Ice
- Ice/Icee
- Ice Cream
- Jab
- Jasmine
- Jenny Crank Program
- Jet Fuel
- Jib
- Jinga
- Juddha
- Juice
- Junk
- Kaksonjae
- Kibble
- Killer
- Kool-Aid
- Kryptonite
- LA Glass/LA Ice
- Laundry Detergent
- Lemon Drop
- Life
- Lily
- Linda
- Lucille
- Magic
- Meth
- Method
- Moon Juice
- Motivation in a Bag
- Nazi Dope
- Ned
- New Day
- New Prozac
- Night Train
- No-Doze
- Patsy
- Peanut Butter
- Peel Dope
- Phasers
- Pink
- Poison
- Pookie
- Poop
- Poor Man’s Cocaine
- Pootananny
- Powder
- Project Propellant
- Puddle
- Pump
- Quartz
- Quick
- Quill
- Rails
- Ratchet Jaw
- Redneck Heroin
- Richie Rich
- Rip
- Rock
- Rocket Fuel
- Rocky Mountain High
- Rosebud
- Rumdum
- Sam’s Sniff
- Sarahs
- Satan Dust
- Scante
- Scap
- Schlep Rock
- Scooby Snacks
- Scud
- Shab/Sha-Bang
- Shards
- Shia
- Shiz-anything, such as –shiznack, shiznit, shizzo, etc.
- Sketch
- Ski
- Sky Rocks
- Sliggers
- Smiley Smile
- Smurf Dope
- Snaps
- Sniff
- Snow
- Space Food
- Spagack
- Sparkle
- Speed/Speed Racer
- Spin/Spindarella/Spinny Boo
- Spook
- Squawk
- Sto-Pid
- Sugar
- Sweetness
- Swerve
- Ta-Doww
- Talkie
- Tasmanian Devil
- TD
- Tenner
- Tical
- Time
- Tina/Teena
- Tink Dust
- Tish
- Toots
- Trash
- Truck Stop Special
- Tutu
- Tweedle Doo
- Tweek
- Twiz/Twizzlers
- Ugly Dust
- Uppers
- Vanilla Pheromones
- Wake
- Walk
- Wash
- White Cross/White Crunch/White House/White Pony
- Whip
- Who-Ha
- Work
- Yaaba
- Yama
- Yammer Bammer
- Yank/Yankee
- Yay
- Yellow Barn
- Zip
- Zoom
Methamphetamines are also often combined with other substances:
- “Biker Coffee” – coffee, laced with methamphetamines
- “Croak or Shabu” – cocaine and meth
- “Hugs and Kisses, P and P, Party and Play” – ecstasy and meth
- Fire, Mexican Speedballs, Twisters – crack and meth
Methamphetamine abusers have come up with slang terms for using and for other users:
- Box Labs
- Crankster Gangster
- Chicken Flippin’
- Fried
- Foiled
- Get Geared Up
- Getered Out
- Get Glassed
- Hot Railing/Hot Rolling
- Lithium Scabs
- Lost Weekend/Tweakend
- Meth Head/Meth Monster/Meth Mouth
- Scattered
- Speed Freak
- Spun Out
- Stymied
- Twacked
- Tweaked/Tweaker
- Woop Chicken
- Zoomin’
Street Names for Inhalants
Inhalants are the fourth-most-abused substance in America, following alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Roughly 23 MILLION people in the US have experimented with inhalants at some point during their lifetime.
Terms for inhalant abuse include:
- Air Blasting
- Bagging
- Dusting
- Huffing
- Glading
- Sniffing
Because there are so many common household products that can be misused, there are numerous slant/street terms for inhalants.
- Aimies/Amys
- Aroma of Men
- Bolt
- Boppers
- Bullet/Bullet Bolt
- Buzz Bomb
- Chroming
- Climax
- Disco-Rama
- Hardware
- Heart-On
- Highball
- Medusa
- Moon Gas
- Oz
- Pearls
- Poor Man’s Pot
- Poppers
- Quicksilver
- Rush/Rush Snappers
- Satan’s Secret
- Snappers
- Snotballs
- Spray
- Texas Shoe Shine
- Thrust
- Toilet Water
- Tolly – short for toluene
- Toncho
- Whippets
- Whiteout
Street Names for Cocaine
According to the NIDA, more than 1 out of every 6 Americans age 26 or older will try cocaine at some point in their lifetime.
- Base
- Baseball
- Blanca
- Blow
- Bolivian Marching Powder
- Coke
- Cola
- Flake
- Gold Dust
- Haven Dust
- Icing
- Line
- Nose Candy
- Powder
- Snow
- Toot
- White
- Yeyo
Crack, the crystalline form of cocaine, has its own street names:
- Black Rock
- Candy
- Chemical
- Cookies
- Dice
- Gravel
- Grit
- Hail
- Hard Rock
- Jellybeans
- Nuggets
- Purple Caps
- Scrabble
- Sleet
- Tornado
- Yam
Street Names for Club Drugs
Since the ‘70s, there has been a link between the party-going, club-hopping culture and drugs. Certain recreational drugs are used as aphrodisiacs and to enhance the user’s appreciation of the music and the environment:
Street Names for Club Drugs
Ecstasy
- X
- E
- XTC
- Molly
- Adam
- Beans
- Candy
- Dancing Shoes
- Disco Biscuits
- Doves/Love Doves
- E-Bomb
- Eggrolls
- Happy Pills
- Hug Drug
- Love Drug
- Malcolm/Malcolm X
- Smarties
- Sweets
- Skittles
- Thizz
- Vitamin E/Vitamin X
- Vowels
GHB
- Blue Nitro
- Cherry FX Bombs
- Cherry Meth
- Easy Lay
- Everclear
- Firewater
- G/Gamma G
- Georgia Homeboy
- GH Revitalizer
- Gib
- Gina
- Great Hormones at Bedtime
- Grievous Bodily Harm
- G-riffick
- Insom-X
- Lemon FX Drops
- Liquid Ecstasy/Liquid E
- Liquid X
- Longevity
- Nature’s Quaalude
- Orange FX Rush
- Organic Quaalude
- Poor Man’s Heroine
- Remforce
- Salty Water
- Scoop
- Soap
- Vita-G
- Water
- Wolfies
Ketamine
- Baby Food
- Cat Tranquilizer
- Cat Valium
- Jet
- K
- K-Hole
- K-Land
- Kit Kat
- Purple
- Special K/Super K/Vitamin K
Rohypnol
- Circles
- Forget-Me Pill
- La Rocha
- Lunch Money Drug
- Mexican Valium
- Pingus
- R-2
- Reynolds
- Roach-2
- Rib
- Roofies/Ruffies/Rophies
- Rope
LSD
- Acid
- Blaze
- Blotter
- Cheer
- Dose
- Dots
- Flash
- Fry
- Gel
- Hawk
- Heart
- Jesus
- L
- Lightning
- Line
- Lucy
- Micro Dots
- Paper Mushrooms
- Purple Haze
- Pyramid
- Rainbow
- Smilies
- Stars
- Superman
- Tab
- Ticket
- Trips
- Window/Window Pane
- Yellow Sunshine
LSD users are referred to as “acid heads”, “acid freaks”, “flashers”, and “trippers”. Mescaline
- Beans
- Blue Caps
- Buttons
- Cactus/Cactus Buttons
- Chief
- Euphoria
- Mesc/Mescal
- Peyote
PCP
- Dipper
- Fry
- Green Kryptonite
- Illy
- Killer Joints
- Love Boat
- Lovelies
- Organe Pokémon
- Purple Teardrops
- Super Grass
- Waters
- Wets
Psilocybin/Mushrooms
- Boomers
- Flower Flipping – mushrooms with Ecstasy
- God’s Flesh
- Hippieflip – mushrooms with Ecstasy
- Little Smoke – mushrooms with marijuana
- Magic Mushrooms
- Mexican Mushrooms
- Musk
- Sherm
- Shrooms/Shroomies
- Silly Putty
- Simple Simon
Street Names for Synthetic Drugs
According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, there are hundreds of man-made so-called “designer” drug formulations that are sold online or at legal retail outlets. Synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones are marketed as “safe and legal” alternatives to marijuana and amphetamines, although they are often neither.
Street Names for Synthetic Drugs
Synthetic Cannabinoids Right now, there are over 600 different “brand names” associated with synthetic marijuana. Some of the most popular and well-known include:
- K2
- Black Mamba
- Bliss
- Bombay blue
- Fake Weed
- Genie
- Marinol
- Mary Mack
- Myrrh
- Spice
- Zohai
Synthetic Cathinones
- Bath Salts
- Ivory Wave
- M-Cat
- Meow Meow
- Vanilla Sky
- White Lightning
- White Magic
Street Names for OTC Drugs
Substance abuse isn’t always about illicit drugs – sometimes, the biggest dangers come from our own medicine cabinets, from common, everyday over-the-counter medicines – particularly cough medicines containing dextromethan. More than 1 in 25 12th-grade students admit to doing so.
Street Names for OTC Drugs:
- DXM
- Dex/Drex –“dexing” refers to getting high with cough medicines
- Orange Crush
- Poor Man’s PCP
- Poor Man’s X
- Red Devils
- Robo – hence the terms “Robo-tripping”, “Robo-fizzing”, or “Robo-dosing”
- Rojo
- Skittles
- Triple CCCs/CCCs
- Tussin
- Velvet
- Vitamin D
A person who abuses dextromethorphan can be referred to as a “robo-tard” or a “syrup head”.
What to Do with This Information about the Street Names of Drugs
When you hear one of your loved ones using these terms, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are, in fact, abusing drugs. In the case of a teenager, it COULD be that they are just trying to sound “cool” around their friends. On the other hand, however, that doesn’t mean that you should ignore the potential dangers. If you haven’t already had a frank and open talk with your loved ones about the dangers of drug abuse and addiction, NOW is the perfect time. If you discover that substance abuse IS taking place, then you need to keep calm, but IMMEDIATELY seek professional help before their disease of addiction takes too heavy a toll on your lives. Do not ignore it – it will not get better or go away on its own. But, with proper treatment and support, it is possible to return to a healthy, happy, and productive sober life.
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