An Addiction Science Network Resource
The following tables cross reference some
frequently abused
drugs by their generic, trade (commercial, proprietary), and
common/street
names. For pharmacological classes and DEA Schedules, see Drug Classification.
An
extensive listing of over 2,000 slang terms for drugs, drug users, and
other drug-use
related terms can be found at Street
Terms: Drugs and the Drug Trade (provided by the Office of
National Drug
Control Policy). Explanatory text and notes follow
the last
table.
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Quick Links to Tables |
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Trade Name |
Generic Name |
|
Anadrol
|
anabolic
steroid |
|
Generic Name |
Trade Name |
Common/Street Name(s) |
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Sublimaze |
China girl, dance fever, friend, goodfellas, king ivory |
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heroin (diacetyl morphine) |
none (banned in U.S.) |
brown sugar, H, Henry, horse, junk, skag, smack |
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Dolophine |
frizzies |
|
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Duramorph, Roxanol, generic |
dreamer, hows, M, Miss Emma |
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Generic Name |
Trade Name |
Common/Street Name(s) |
|
Psychomotor Stimulants |
|
|
|
Dexedrine, Benzedrine (racemic mixture) |
bennies, uppers |
|
|
generic |
coke, crank, snow, crack (crystalline free-base form), zip |
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Methedrine |
chalk, crystal, ice, meth, methlies quik, speed |
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Ritalin |
uppers, west coast |
|
|
Mild Stimulants |
|
|
|
contained in various OTC medicines (e.g., Primatene) |
herbal ecstasy, Ma Huang |
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|
contained in various OTC medicines (e.g., Sudafed) |
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phenylpropanolamine (PPA) |
contained in various OTC medicines (e.g., Dexatrim) |
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Stimulatory Hallucinogens |
|
|
|
none |
Adam, ecstasy, Eve, XTC |
|
|
none |
angel dust, crazy coke, gorilla biscuits, ozone, PCP, Peter Pan, rocket fuel, wack |
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Generic Name |
Trade Name |
Common/Street Name(s) |
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Seconal |
downers |
|
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Nembutal |
downers |
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Benzodiazepines |
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Xanax |
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Librium |
lib |
|
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Valium |
V |
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Rohypnol, Robutal (banned in U.S.) |
forget me drug, Mexican valium, roofies, rope |
|
|
Halcion |
|
|
|
Volatile Anesthetics |
|
|
|
generic; also contained in some consumer products |
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|
|
generic; also contained in various consumer products |
buzz bomb, laughing gas, whippets |
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Other |
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Ketalar; mainly veterinary medicine in U.S. |
jet, new ecstasy, special K, vitamin K |
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Quaalude (banned in U.S.) |
ludes |
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Generic Name |
Trade Name |
Common/Street Name |
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Android, Anadrol, Durabolin, Oxandrin, Winstrol |
juice, roids |
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|
none (banned in U.S.) |
Georgia home boy, grievous bodily harm, liquid ecstasy, liquid X |
|
|
contained in various consumer products (e.g., air fresheners) |
locker room, poppers, rush |
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|
Generic Names |
Common/Street Name |
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Belushi, dynamite, eightball, H & C, moonrock, murder one, speedball |
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flamethrower |
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Frisco special, Frisco speedball |
|
|
max |
|
|
special K-lube |
|
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3750s, diablitos, lace, primos, oolies, torpedo, turbo, woolies |
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happy sticks, illies, love boat, wet, wicky sticks, zoom |
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Jim Jones |
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missile basing, parachute, spaceballs, space base, tragic magic |
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T's & blues |
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Trade names and common/street names listed above for each compound are exemplary not exhaustive. The tables list some of the more popular drugs and drug combinations, giving examples of common/street names used across different geographic regions. Common/street names for marijuana and the hallucinogens have been omitted.
Some medicinally sold compounds are marketed exclusively by trade names (e.g., diazepam as Valium), while other drugs are sold under their generic names with no current proprietary names in use (e.g., cocaine). Still other drugs employ both generic and proprietary names, depending on the drug manufacturer or distributor (e.g., Duramorph and Roxanol which are brands of morphine, and U.S.P. morphine which is generic).
Street names can vary not only across countries but also across regions within the same country or even individual locations in a small geographic region. The specific use of street names sometimes varies over time. For example, "speed" referred almost exclusively to methamphetamine (as opposed to uppers which referenced other amphetamines) during the 1960s, but this term is becoming used increasingly to reference all amphetamine and even non-amphetamine stimulants (e.g., methylphenidate).
Abused drugs are not always highly addictive
drugs. In some
cases factors other than drug reinforcement are likely to be important
in
motivating drug use. When ease of availability is an important
determinant of
drug use, psychosocial factors are likely to be important mediators.
For
example, experimental drug use is largely influenced by psychosocial
factors
and is widespread during adolescence and usually subsides with
maturity.
Similarly, underlying psychopathology may be an important factor in the
adult
abuse of some commonly prescribed medications. This does not mean that
these
compounds lack significant addiction potential, but rather, that most
cases of
their abuse probably involve experimental or circumstantial drug use
not
addiction and that cases of true addiction are associated with
underlying
psychopathology and not simple drug reinforcement. Many of the drugs
listed
above are prescription drugs that are often abused mainly because of
their
widespread availability and motivated primarily by psychosocial
factors. In
fact, prescription drugs are often referred to as "kiddie dope,"
suggesting that these are not the preferred drugs of hard-core users.
Click here
for more information on the difference between drug abuse and drug
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