Drug Dealer Slang Terms: Deciphering Drug Code Words

4 min readSep 22, 2021

Despite what the movies and tv shows might lead you to think, drug deals can happen anywhere at any time-they might even be going on around you right now. Drug dealers and users can talk fairly openly through their use of coded language, much of which involve terms that sound innocuous, ordinary, nonsensical, or even cutesy. Under these guises, it would be easy for a bystander to miss a drug exchange that happens right under their very nose. If you’re a concerned parent, friend, or family member of a suspected drug user, here are drug dealer slang terms you need to know.

Uncovering Drug Slang & Street Names

Drug slang consists of constantly evolving terms that refer to everything from sellers, buyers, the drug itself, and everything in between. Why? This insider drug code serves several key purposes. It makes illicit transactions easier to discuss in public, and a lot less obvious than using certain terms outright. It’s also a reliable way to identify authentic customers versus someone who might be an undercover cop). Last, and perhaps most importantly, drug slang makes it much more difficult for law enforcement to track drug-related actions.

As such, if you’re completely unfamiliar with illicit-drug vernacular it can be challenging figuring out where to begin. Although many slang terms for drugs are based on some play on the drug’s name, the street names aren’t always obvious–in fact, the majority of a drug’s street name will likely have (seemingly) nothing to do with what the drug’s actually called. A slang term could be based on the drug’s appearance, how it’s used, how it’s packaged, or how it makes people feel. Keep in mind that drug dealer slang can vary widely between countries and regions.

Slang About Acquiring & Using Drugs

Slang term for a dealer

Cooker
Dummy man
Mad hatter
Middleman
Pill lady
Pump
Pusher
Source

Slang term for a user

Burnout
Fiend
Hophead
Zombie

Slang term for being high

Addled
Baked
Badgered
Bashed
Blasted
Blitzed
Bombed
Crocked
Crossfaded
Crunched
Faded
Fried
Geeked
Juiced
Keyed
Krunked
Lifted
Lit (up)
Smashed
Sozzled
Squiffy
Wasted
Zoned
Zonked

Slang term for drug paraphernalia

Blunt
Bowl
Bong
Bubbler
Doob(ie)
Fatty
Glass
Hogger
J(ay)
Joint
Left-handed cigarette
One-hitter
PAX
Percolator
Piece
Pipe
Rig
Roach
Sp(l)iff
Vape
Water pipe

Drug Street Names & Slang

If you’re hoping to get in the know about all street names for different drugs, you’re in for quite the challenge. According to DEA intelligence, certain drugs, such as cocaine, can easily have close to one hundred nicknames! And since the terms change so rapidly, memorizing old drug slang might not prove to be a fruitful endeavor. Instead, here are some of the most common street names of popular recreational drugs:

Amphetamine

Gooey
Louee
Speed
Uppers
Whiz

Barbiturates

Barbs
Phennies
Reds
Red Birds
Tooies
Yellows
Yellow jackets

Benzodiazepines

Bars
Benzos
Blues
Candy
Chill pills
French friends
Planks
Totem poles
Tranks
Zanies
Z-bar

Cocaine

Bump
Big C
Candy
Charlie
Dust
Flake
Pearl
Rock
Snow
Sneeze
Toot
Yay(o)

Ecstasy/MDMA

Adams
Beans
Clarity
E
Molly
Scooby snacks
X(TC)

Fentanyl

Apache
Cash
China Girl/China Town
Friend
Goodfella
Jackpot
Tango
TNT

Heroin

Black / Black Tar/Black Pearl/Black Pearl/ Black Eagle
Boy
Brown/Brown Crystal/Brown Rhine/Brown Sugar/Brown Tape
Bundle
China White
Dragon
H
Horse
Junk
Snowball
Tar
White horse

Marijuana

Bud
Broccoli
Dona Juana
Flower/Flower Power
Grass
Herb
Jane
Jolly Green
Trees

Methamphetamine

Chalk
Christina
Cookies
Cotton Candy
Cream
Fire
Glass
Juice
Ice
Pookie
Rocket Fuel
Scooby Snacks
Tweek

How To Use This Guide To Drug Dealer Slang

These street names are just the tip of the vast iceberg that is recreational drug use and is far from comprehensive. This guide merely highlights how diverse these terms are and how easy they might be to overlook in a conversation or text.

The takeaway from this article: Rather than relying on hearing–and knowing–drug code words that you recognize, look out for seemingly out-of-place words or phrases that your loved ones use repeatedly or perhaps in hushed tones. Behavioral cues will always be one of the most reliable ways to determine if someone you care about is using or addicted to drugs and will persist long after the latest drug terminology falls out of fashion.

Do you know someone who has a substance abuse problem? Get help quickly and learn more about the most common recreational drugs and the tell-tale signs of addictive behavior.

Originally published at https://www.thefreedomcenter.com on September 22, 2021.