Street Drug Names - Why All Parents Should Know Them
Statistics show it takes an average of six months for parents to find out their kids are taking drugs.
This might give you the impression that parents aren't paying attention but there's another problem they're up against - and resolving it might well keep some kids out of serious trouble.
What is that problem? Terminology.
When you hear your teenage or young-adult son or daughter talking to a friend on the phone, or in person, you would be alarmed if you heard 'methamphetamine,' 'heroin,' or 'cocaine.
' But would your reaction be the same if they were discussing 'Christmas tree,' 'cinnamon,' 'Cristina,' or 'lemon drop'? Not likely.
Those words fit into normal conversations.
You hear them frequently.
Maybe Christmas tree wouldn't make sense mid August but even then it wouldn't send you into a panic.
What do those words mean in drug parlance? They are just a few of the 135 (or so) street names for methamphetamine.
For heroin, the street names number about 400.
Words you might overhear in conversations about heroin could include 'balloon,' 'Bart Simpson,' 'Big Harry,' "bulldog,' and 'channel swimmer.
' What would you think if you heard someone described as a channel swimmer? Would you think they inject heroin? No.
You'd think they were a great swimmer, someone you'd probably like your son or daughter to hang out with.
Could they really be any safer than when they're hanging out with such an obviously accomplished athlete? When someone's discussing cocaine, you might hear 'Angie,' 'Batman,' 'Bernie,' 'Blizzard' or 'aspirin.
' If you heard 'Blizzard' you'd probably think the kids were meeting up at the Dairy Queen for their famous Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Blizzard dessert.
'Aspirin' is likely to make you ask your kid if they have a headache.
Cocaine, by the way, has almost as many street names as heroin - about 370.
Some of the names are for methamphetamine, heroin or cocaine alone; others represent combinations of those drugs with others.
Do you have to memorize 900 words or so (and that's just for those three drugs)? Well, it wouldn't be the worst thing you could do.
When it comes to kids and drugs, better safe than sorry.
If you're interested, you can find comprehensive lists on the White House Drug Policy (that's .
gov) site.
If you want to understand anything, or anyone, you have to understand the terminology being used or the language they're speaking.
The more you apply that principal, the more you'll understand your kids' lives.
And it may even prevent them from ending up in an addiction treatment center.
This might give you the impression that parents aren't paying attention but there's another problem they're up against - and resolving it might well keep some kids out of serious trouble.
What is that problem? Terminology.
When you hear your teenage or young-adult son or daughter talking to a friend on the phone, or in person, you would be alarmed if you heard 'methamphetamine,' 'heroin,' or 'cocaine.
' But would your reaction be the same if they were discussing 'Christmas tree,' 'cinnamon,' 'Cristina,' or 'lemon drop'? Not likely.
Those words fit into normal conversations.
You hear them frequently.
Maybe Christmas tree wouldn't make sense mid August but even then it wouldn't send you into a panic.
What do those words mean in drug parlance? They are just a few of the 135 (or so) street names for methamphetamine.
For heroin, the street names number about 400.
Words you might overhear in conversations about heroin could include 'balloon,' 'Bart Simpson,' 'Big Harry,' "bulldog,' and 'channel swimmer.
' What would you think if you heard someone described as a channel swimmer? Would you think they inject heroin? No.
You'd think they were a great swimmer, someone you'd probably like your son or daughter to hang out with.
Could they really be any safer than when they're hanging out with such an obviously accomplished athlete? When someone's discussing cocaine, you might hear 'Angie,' 'Batman,' 'Bernie,' 'Blizzard' or 'aspirin.
' If you heard 'Blizzard' you'd probably think the kids were meeting up at the Dairy Queen for their famous Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Blizzard dessert.
'Aspirin' is likely to make you ask your kid if they have a headache.
Cocaine, by the way, has almost as many street names as heroin - about 370.
Some of the names are for methamphetamine, heroin or cocaine alone; others represent combinations of those drugs with others.
Do you have to memorize 900 words or so (and that's just for those three drugs)? Well, it wouldn't be the worst thing you could do.
When it comes to kids and drugs, better safe than sorry.
If you're interested, you can find comprehensive lists on the White House Drug Policy (that's .
gov) site.
If you want to understand anything, or anyone, you have to understand the terminology being used or the language they're speaking.
The more you apply that principal, the more you'll understand your kids' lives.
And it may even prevent them from ending up in an addiction treatment center.
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