Drugs: What They’re Called On The Street

Drugs: What They're Called On The Street

Some say tomato, some say tomahto. I like potato, you like potahto. You say cocaine, he says…Aunt Nora? That’s right, Aunt Nora. And that’s just one of the street names for cocaine. And there are many.

Most undercover cops will tell you that their assignment is sometimes a strange one, because they not only have to learn to “walk the walk,” they also have to learn an entirely new language—the street drug language. If the UC (undercover) doesn’t use the correct terminology for a drug in specific area then his cover is almost certain to be blown. Therefore, it is imperative that the officer study his subjects and their mannerisms and speech before approaching them. Can you imagine what would happen if an undercover officer walked up to a drug runner and asked, “May I please purchase a large quantity of d-lysergic acid diethylamide? I believe you cats call it acid out here on the mean streets.” Yeah, that would work…

So, to help your characters fit in a little better than our guy above, here are a few street names for, or relating to, illegal drugs.

Cocaine

Aunt Nora

Angie

Aspirin (powder cocaine)

Balling (hiding packaged cocaine in body cavities).

Base crazies -desperately and frantically searching on hands and knees for small amounts of spilled cocaine or bits of crack cocaine.

Behind the Scale – selling or packaging cocaine.

Beiging – altering cocaine with chemicals to make it appear of a higher quality, or purity.

Bernie, Bernie’s flakes, Bernie’s dust

Birdie powder

Blast

Blizzard

Blow

Booster – inhaling cocaine

Brick – one kilo of cocaine

C

Caine

California cornflakes

Candy

Carrie

Cecil

Chippy

Coconut

Crack

Crack cocaine

Mo

Monster

Witch

Zip

Marijuana

African

African Black

Airplane

Angola

Ashes

Baby

Bale

Bamba

Bammy

Bar

Bash

Black

BoBo

Boom

Broccoli

Catnip

Cest

Chiba chiba

Chunky

Clam Bake – sitting inside a small enclosed space ( a car, etc.) while smoking marijuana

Don Juan

Firewood

Giggle smoke

Greens

Jane

Macaroni

Mow the grass – smoke marijuana

Root

Salad

Oxycontin and Oxycodone

Hillbilly heroin

Cotton

OC

Pills

Rohypnol

Forget Me Pill

Lunch money drug

Mexican Valium

Roaches

Roofies

Rope

Ruffles

Wolfies

Methamphetamine

Beannies

Blade

Bling

Boo

Chalk (also refers to cocaine)

Chrome

Clear

Cinnamon

Crank

Cris

Crystal

Hot ice

Meth

Pink

Pink elephants

Rock

Sparkle

Tick tick

Tina

Work

 

 

 

 

3 replies
  1. PatMarin
    PatMarin says:

    Wow, am I naive about drugs. I had no clue these names even existed. Guess it’s a good thing I’ve never written about drugs, but if I do, I know right where to go to get the 411 I need. I guess it’s safe to assume these names change with the area of the country the drug dealers do their business?

  2. Brenda
    Brenda says:

    Thanks for this information in case I ever write about this. I must say I was NOT happy to learn that one of my great-grandmother’s names — she was Aunt Nora to her nieces & nephews — is a name for Cocaine right now.

  3. SZ
    SZ says:

    I have not even heard of half those street names. Which is a good thing ! The only one I could add is Tom Pettys Last Dance with Mary Jane LOL

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