If you overheard your teenager tell his friend he was “candy flipping,” would you be concerned? It sounds like he’s popping M&Ms or swapping candy bars with a buddy, right? Sounds like it…but the true meaning is much more concerning.
“Candy flipping” is slang for using more than one drug at a time. Since using even one drug can be lethal, “candy flipping” is something that’s especially life-threatening.
That’s why the ability to decode modern drug slang is more important than ever for parents.
Learning the Lingo of Modern Drug Slang
It’s common for drug users and drug dealers to use slang terms. This keeps friends and family in the dark about their drug use. It also helps conceal their activities from law enforcement.
Or at least that’s the hope.
Sometimes, the slang is based on the appearance of the drugs. Other terms come from the effects the drugs have on a person. And other times, the slang originates with the place the drugs came from.
But there are some terms that seem to have no logical reference whatsoever, which can make them particularly tough to decode.
Drug Enforcement Administration Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials put their ears to the ground, gathering information on the latest drug terminology. After extensive research, they put together a list of more than 2,300 common terms used in the drug culture. Each slang term refers to drug-related activities or to specific drugs.
No, you can’t learn them all, especially with new ones constantly coming to the scene. But you can be proactive by trying to familiarize yourself with some of the more common terms.
Recognizing these terms may help you spot drug-related behavior in your child. You can also listen for some of these terms in your teenager’s conversations or look for them in social media messages with their friends.
Now, let’s break down some of the most common drug-related slang terms.
Heroin
Heroin is a type of illegal opioid. It’s usually injected, to experience cause a feeling of euphoria.
Slang terms used for heroin include:
- Big H
- Black Tar
- Aunt Hazel
- Antifreeze
- Tootsie Roll
- Chinese Buffet
- Skunk
- Thunder
- Wings
- Witch Hazel
Oxycodone
Oxycodone is a prescription painkiller. It’s often sold under the brand-names OxyContin, Percocet, and Percodan.
Slang terms used for oxycodone include:
- Oxy
- Hillbilly Heroin
- Greens
- Killers
- Kickers
- OC
- Percs
- Roxy
- Whites
- Blues
- Paulas
- 512s
- Cotton
Vicodin
Vicodin is a brand name of the drug hydrocodone. This is a prescription painkiller used to treat moderate to severe pain.
Slang terms used for Vicodin include:
- Drones
- Idiot Pills
- Lorries
- Lemonade
- Triple V
- Bananas
- Scratch
- Veeks
- Vics
- Vikes
- Watsons
Xanax
Xanax belongs to a class of drugs known as benzodiazepines. These anti-anxiety medications are often prescribed for treating insomnia, seizures, and anxiety.
Common street names for valium include:
- Xannies
- Bars
- School Bus
- Planks
- Bricks
- Handlebars
- Yellow Boys
- Upjohns
- Z-Bars
- White Boys/White Girls
Valium
Valium is another benzodiazepine. It is a long-lasting anti-anxiety drug. People who abuse it may snort, smoke, or simply swallow the pills.
A few slang terms for valium include:
- V
- Vallies
- Blues
- Jellies
- Eggs
- Moggies
- Yellows
Cocaine
Cocaine is an illegal stimulant drug. It is usually snorted and causes an energy boost and increases alertness. There are literally hundreds of slang terms for cocaine.
Some of the most common street names for cocaine are:
- Coke
- Blow
- Crack
- Snow
- Yayo
- Angel Powder
- Dust
- Devil’s Dandruff
- Diamonds
- Nose Candy
- Normal
- Belushi
- White Lady
- Candy
Meth
Methamphetamines (meth for short) are central nervous system stimulants. They are prescribed for ADHD and other disorders.
Common slang terms for meth include:
- Bump
- Crank
- Hot Ice
- Zip
- Colorado Rockies
- Chalk
- Aqua
- Fizz
- Tina
- Soap Dope
- Yellow Barn
Fentanyl
Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that is 50-100 times stronger than morphine. It is prescribed to treat severe pain. Since fentanyl is cheap to purchase on the black market and comes in powder form, most drug dealers add fentanyl to other illegal drugs like heroin, cocaine, or pain pills. That’s how fentanyl came to be responsible for most of overdose deaths in the U.S. today.
Common slang terms for fentanyl include:
- Apache
- China Girl
- Tango and Cash
- TNT
- Dance Fever
- Goodfella
- China White
- Friend
- Butter
- Shoes
- Jackpot
Marijuana
Marijuana is the most common cannabinoid. It is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. It is usually smoked, but can also be added to certain foods and eaten. Like cocaine, marijuana goes by hundreds of nicknames.
Some of the most common slang terms include:
- Weed
- Mary Jane
- Broccoli
- Blondie
- African Bush
- Grass
- Jamaican Gold
- Green Goblin
- Stems
- Chronic
More Terms to Help You Decode Modern Drug Slang
“I’ll bring over a bag of potato chips and we can get down. Or we can head to my turf, as long as Leo’s not there to ruin our fun.”
This message on a teenager’s phone might seem pretty innocent…but it’s actually filled with hidden messages.
A lot of drug slang doesn’t even refer to specific drugs. It’s used for other things, like where to purchase drugs, how to use them, who to get them from – basically anything related to the drug culture.
Awareness of these terms can clue you in on potentially dangerous activities in your teen’s life. For example, if you heard your kid say she was “charged up” or that she “hit the hay,” did you know she might be referring to drug use?
If your teen says he’s planning to go “rock climbing” or mentions a “shooting gallery,” he might be meeting up with friends to get high. And if he’s messaging someone with the nickname “snowman” or “paper boy,” that friend might actually be a drug dealer.
Other seemingly safe terms, like “one-stop shop, kibbles & bits, and spaceship,” could also mean more than you think. Macaroni and cheese isn’t what it used to be…
Here’s a few phrases to help you with decoding modern drug slang:
Drugs
- Fry daddy: Crack and marijuana
- Kibbles & bits: Small crumbs of crack
- Macaroni and cheese: $5 pack of marijuana and a dime bag of cocaine
- Potato chips: Crack cut with benzocaine
Drug Use
- Channel: Vein into which a drug is injected
- Charged up: Under the influence of drugs
- Coasting: Under the influence of drugs
- Clam bake: Sitting inside a car or other enclosed space and smoking marijuana
- Feenin’: Behavior associated with a person craving drugs when they’re unavailable
- Get down: To inject a drug
- Ghostbusting: Smoking cocaine
- Hit the hay: To smoke marijuana
- Hot box: Smoking in a car with the windows up
- Give wings: Inject someone or teach someone to inject heroin
- Lay-out: Equipment for taking drugs
- On the nod: Under the influence of narcotics or a depressant
- Pepsi habit: Occasional use of drugs
- Rock climbing: Smoking rock cocaine
- Skin popping: Injecting drugs under the skin, without hitting a vein
- Space ship: Glass pipe used to smoke crack
- Weightless: High on crack
Who’s Who
- Channel swimmer: A person who injects heroin
- Chipper: Occasional user
- Geeker: Crack user
- Hitters: People who inject others who have hard-to-find veins, in exchange for drugs
- Paper boy: Heroin peddler
- Snowman: Drug dealer
Buying and Selling
- Abe: $5 worth of drugs
- Abe’s cabe: $5 bill
- Bag: Packet of drugs; a container for drugs; a person’s favorite drug
- Deuce: $2 worth of drugs
- Dews: $10 worth of drugs
- Dime bag: $10 worth of drugs
- Hand-to-hand: Direct delivery and payment
- Interplanetary mission: Travel from one crack house to another in search of crack
- Juggle: Sell drugs to another addict to support a habit
- Nickel bag: $5 worth of drugs
- Slanging: Selling drugs
- Teardrops: Doses of crack packaged in the cut-off corners of plastic bags
- Trambo: Pending drug transaction
- Twists: Small plastic bags of heroin secured with a twist tie
Hangouts
- Abandominiums: Abandoned row houses where drugs are used
- Copping zones: Specific areas where buyers can purchase drugs
- Crack-in-the-box: Busy gas station where drug transactions are common
- House fee: Money paid to enter a crack-house
- One-stop shop: Place where more than one drug is sold
- Shooting gallery: Place where people go to inject drugs
- Turf: Place where drugs are sold
Law Enforcement
- Leo: Law enforcement officer
- Sam: Federal narcotics agent
- Uncle: Federal agents
What if I Decode a Drug Message?
So maybe you discovered some suspicious terms on your teen’s phone or overheard a conversation that seemed to be in code. Now what?
The next step is to talk to your teen about drug use. Have an open and honest conversation. Ask questions. Listen. And if they are struggling with drug use or addiction, help is available.
No matter how uncomfortable the conversation might be for you, the last thing you want to do is ignore the situation. With deadly drugs like fentanyl on the street, you can’t afford to dismiss the warning signs or convince yourself it’s “just a teenager experimenting.” Experimenting with drugs can kill kids nowadays.
Article source: www.addictions.com
