While knowing street names for opiates may seem like a trivial pursuit, friends and loved ones who engage in recreational drug use may be talking about doing drugs right in front you without your knowing it. Getting a handle on this jargon can help in spotting potential drug problems early on.
For help finding opiate addiction treatment, call 800-442-6158 Who Answers? .
Drug Abuse Practices
Whether legal or illegal, street names for opiates center around drug abuse practices and the methods used to obtain and prepare these drugs. As drug preparation methods can vary depending on the type of drug involved, street names for opiates sometimes act as descriptors for the particular method used.
Most every abused drug falls under the controlled substances classification, most notably Schedule I and Schedule II class drugs. These drugs produce powerful psychoactive effects by altering the brain’s chemical make-up. People who abuse drugs on a regular basis become part of a culture that uses street names for opiates as a means for camouflaging their activities.
Street Names for Opiates
Heroin
Heroin, the granddaddy of all opiates, has been around considerably longer than today’s prescription opiate drugs. As one of the most popular of its kind, there’s no lack of street names for opiates where heroin is concerned.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, heroin is derived from morphine, a natural extract from the opium poppy plant. Commonly used street names for heroin include:
Junk, white horse, and dragon are common heroin street names.
- Junk
- H
- Smack
- Chiba
- Tar
- Brown sugar
- Chiva
- White horse
- Skag
- Dragon
- White
Oxycodone
Oxycodone, one of the more popular prescription opiates, has a reputation in its own right simply because of how powerful oxycodone-based drugs can be. According to the University of Maryland, brand name formulations of oxycodone include:
- Tylox
- OxyContin
- Percocet
- Percodan
Street names for opiates containing oxycodone may or may not correspond with the brand name. Oxycodone street names include:
- Percs
- Kickers
- Blue
- Oxy
- Killers
- Hillbilly heroin
- Oxycottons
Hydrocodone
As the most commonly prescribed opiate on the market, rates of hydrocodone abuse and trafficking exceed all other prescription drug types, according to the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Hydrocodone brand name drugs include:
- Lortab
- Vicodin
- Norco
- Vicoprofen
Both hydrocodone and oxycodone exist as semi-synthetic opium derivatives, so both contain natural opium ingredients. Hydrocodone street names include:
- Norco
- Vikes
- Hydro
Other Street Names for Opiates
Much like heroin abuse involves injecting, snorting or smoking the drug, prescription drug abuse practices also incorporate these methods of use. As prescription drugs commonly come in capsule or tablet form, users may crush up the pill form into powder and smoke or snort it. This powder can also be “cooked” into a solution for injection purposes.
As cough syrups may also contain opiate ingredients (typically codeine), street names for opiates also apply for certain cough syrup varieties. A few other street names for opiate include:
- M, morph – morphine
- Juice – Dilaudid
- Meth – methadone
- Watson-387 – cough syrup
- Tuss – cough syrup
Though many more street names do exist, with this vocabulary in hand, it’ll be much easier to pick-up on drug-using activities in your midst.
If you or someone you love needs addiction help, call our toll-free hotline at 800-442-6158 Who Answers? .
