Slang and Jargon
Slang terms in the drug subculture are constantly changing, as its ethnic, social, and demographic composition changes and as newillicit drugs roll in and roll out with the tides of fashion, including geographical variations. Yet certain terms showa remarkable durability such as some of those for heroin (trademarked Heroin in Germany, 1898)—a narcotic that has been a staple street anodyne since the early 1900s. Other drug-related terms have come into the mainstream to become a permanent part of the English language, e.g., yen, hooked, pad, spaced out, high, and hip. Many of the following words had been in use during much of the twentieth century (a fewantiques of sociological or historical interest are included) and some are the product of the 1980s and 1990s. Origins, if known, are given.
a amphetamines, a stimulant
a-bomb, bomb LSD, a hallucinogen
acid [a shortening of d-lysergic acid diethylamide; since about 1960] LSD
Adam [originally named to connote a primordial man in a state of innocence] MDMA, a mild hallucinogen. See ecstasy below
amp [from ampule—the drug is sold in small glass ampules, which are broken open and the contents inhaled] amyl nitrite, a dilator of small blood vessels and used in medicine for angina pains; used illicitly to intensify orgasm or for the stimulation effect
amps amphetamines
angel dust [since the 1970s] phencyclidine (a brand name is Sernyl), an anesthetic used on animals but originally on humans; discontinued because of bizarre mental effects.
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