CHARLESTON, WV (WVNS) – Most illicit drugs are given different street names in order to talk about them secretly. Knowing these nicknames can help with awareness about popular drugs in your area, especially ones that can be dangerous. Do you know the street names for drugs in your area?

Not everyone knows what street names are. They are nicknames given to illicit drugs that function like code names when talking about the given drug. Most drugs have several street names, with different groups of people choosing to call a drug by one of the names. Some drugs have as many as fifty different street names. Here are examples of a few commonly used illicit drugs and their unconventional street names.

Fentanyl

Fentanyl can be known as:

  • Apache
  • China girl
  • China town
  • Dance Fever
  • Friend
  • Goodfellas
  • Great Bear
  • He-man
  • Jackpot
  • King Ivory
  • Murder 8
  • Poison
  • Tango and cash
  • TNT
Rainbow Fentanyl seized in NY (Photo courtesy: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration)

Heroin

Heroin can be known as:

  • Aunt Hazel
  • Big H
  • Capital H
  • Charley
  • Good Horse
  • Hard Stuff
  • Hero
  • Heroina
  • Little Boy
  • Stuff
  • Tar
  • Black Tar
  • Black Pearl
  • Black Stuff
  • Brown Crystal
  • Brown Rhine
  • Brown Sugar
  • Brown Tape
  • China White
  • Dope
  • Dragon
  • The Dragon
  • H
  • He
  • Horse
  • Junk
  • Mud
  • Number 3
  • Number 4
  • Number 8
  • Sack
  • Skag
  • Smack
Heroin (r) south east asian (L) south west asian

Methamphetamine

Methamphetamine can be known as:

  • Beannies
  • Blue Devils
  • Chalk
  • CR
  • Crank
  • Crystal
  • Crystal Meth
  • Fast
  • Granulated Orange
  • Ice
  • Meth
  • Mexican Crack
  • Pink
  • Rock
  • Speckled Birds
  • Speed
  • Tina
  • Yellow powder
FILE image of rocks of crystal meth (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Cocaine

Cocaine can be known as:

  • Aunt Nora
  • Batman
  • Big C
  • Big Rush
  • Blow
  • Base
  • Beat
  • Blast
  • Candy
  • Charlie
  • Coca
  • Coke
  • Colombia
  • Crack
  • Casper
  • Devil drug
  • Gravel
  • Hardball
  • Hell
  • Kryptonite
  • Love
  • Moonrocks
  • Pearl
  • Powder
  • Rail
  • Snow
  • Stardust
  • Stash
  • Rock
  • Scrabble
  • Stone
  • Tornado
  • White Girl
Packages containing nearly 1,533 pounds of cocaine seized by CBP officers in a tractor trailer at Colombia-Solidarity Bridge in Laredo, Texas. (CBP)

Oxycodone

Oxycodone can be known as:

  • 30s
  • As
  • Berries
  • Blues
  • Blueberries
  • Hillbilly Heroin
  • Ms
  • O.C.
  • Oxy
  • Oxycet
  • Oxycotton
  • Ozone
  • Roxy
  • Ercs
  • Greenies
  • Kickers
  • M-30s
  • Percs
  • Rims
  • Tires
  • Wheels
  • 512s
FILE – This June 17, 2019, file photo shows 5-mg pills of Oxycodone. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

Ketamine

  • Blind Squid
  • Cat Valium
  • Green
  • Jet
  • K
  • K-Hold
  • Kay
  • Special K
  • Super Acid
  • Vitamin K
FILE – This photo shows a vial of ketamine, which is normally stored in a locked cabinet, July 25, 2018 in Chicago. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford, File)

Marijuana

  • 420
  • Aunt Mary
  • Baby
  • Bobby
  • Boom
  • Chira
  • Chronic
  • Ditch
  • Ganja
  • Grass
  • Greens
  • Hash
  • Herb
  • Mary Jane
  • Pot
  • Reefer
  • Rip
  • Root
  • Skunk
  • Stack
  • Torch
  • Weed
  • Zambi
A marijuana leaf, June 2022 (OSU)

These are only some of the numerous illicit drugs that are abused across the country and the world. For the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be a global health crisis, but there is a second health crisis happening in the United States.

A dramatic increase in overdoses has happened in the last few years, especially in West Virginia. According to a nationwide study from Quotewizard, 103,664 people died nationwide of an overdose in 2021, compared to 68,757 in 2019 and 99,973 in 2020 nationwide.

Knowing as much as possible about the drugs that people are using to overdose can help prevent unnecessary deaths. Street names are just one piece of information that can help spot illicit drugs in your area.