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Education
Common street drug names for the anesthesiologist and pain physician
  1. Rebecca Rigel Donald1,
  2. Santosh Patel2,
  3. Mariah Smith3,
  4. Schuyler Clayton3 and
  5. Sudheer Potru4
  1. 1 Department of Anesthesiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
  2. 2 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
  3. 3 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
  4. 4 Atlanta VA Medical Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Rebecca Rigel Donald, Department of Anesthesiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203, USA; rebecca.donald{at}vumc.org

Abstract

People who use or sell drugs develop their own in-group terms and language, much like any other group of people with a common experience. Slang terms are derived from a wide variety of sources. These might include the physical appearance and/or type of drug, the place where it originates, the effect it has on users, or how it is packaged for sale. To assist and educate the clinical practitioner who may deal with this nomenclature, we have compiled a list of some of the most common street names and some explanations (when known) of their origins.

  • Analgesics, Opioid
  • Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions
  • Epidemiology
  • Opioid-Related Disorders
  • EDUCATION

Data availability statement

Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analyzed for this study.

https://doi.org/10.1136/rapm-2022-104189

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    Data availability statement

    Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analyzed for this study.

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @RebeccaDonaldMD, @SPotruDO

    • Contributors RRD authored the sections on epidemiology of illicit drug use in the USA, dosing and potency of illicit opioids, and stimulants. RRD was responsible for obtaining permission to use all of the images that appear in the manuscript. She is the guarantor. SaP authored the section on sedatives/benzodiazepines and gabapentin. MS authored the section on opioids, with the exception of the paragraph on rainbow fentanyl, which was authored by RRD, and the section on xylazine, which was authored by SuP. MS also authored the section on kratom. SC was instrumental in formulating the list of most common misused drugs and their street names as well as the list of drug combinations. In addition to conceptualizing this article and inviting contributions from the other authors, SuP authored the introduction, the sections on cannabinoids, xylazines, urine drug screens, and the conclusion. All authors contributed to manuscript revisions and approved the final version for publication.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.