This List Goes From `Acid' To `Zoomers' -- Drug Slang Offered On The Internet

Wanna join an Explorers' club? Ride a Cadillac? Go on a sleigh ride or hit the hay?

Better think twice. Those are all terms that can pertain to the use of illegal drugs, according to a list compiled by the federally funded Drugs & Crime Data Center & Clearinghouse.

The list of more than 1,500 terms was placed in the Internet computer network last week as federal agencies make more public documents accessible to computer users across the country.

In various parts of the drug-using world, says the list, an explorers' club is a group of LSD users, Cadillac means PCP, going on a sleigh ride is using cocaine, and hitting the hay means smoking marijuana.

In scope, the list is overwhelming. Few people will recognize all 421 terms for marijuana (including ashes, broccoli and white-haired lady), and all 289 references to crack cocaine (like bings, kangaroo and hamburger helper.)

The list has existed in some form since the late 1980's but is regularly updated and will get wider circulation now that it's available online.

"The attitude here is that it is public information and we want to make it widely available," said Bureau of Justice statistician Sue Lindgren, who manages clearinghouse projects.

Past requests for the list have come from parents, educators, court reporters and law-enforcement agencies.

The list includes the classic ("grass" still means marijuana) and the contemporary ("cat" is methcathinone, a synthetic speed that surfaced in the Midwest last year.)

There's the mundane: "Acid" means LSD; and the bizarre: "Chocolate ecstasy" is crack cocaine mixed with instant chocolate milk for flavor.

Here and there, ambiguity surfaces. "Christmas tree" can mean marijuana, amphetamine or a depressant. "Cap" can mean crack or LSD.

Knowing which definition is intended can be critical. If someone is invited to get "wasted," he'll want to know whether the speaker means "under the influence of drugs" or "murdered."

Lt. Jerry Adams of the Seattle Police narcotics section looked the list over this week and said it appears sound, but a little simplified. It doesn't explain, for example, that terms vary from region to region and from ethnic group to ethnic group.

Such lists help to educate police officers, he said, but equally important is paying attention to terms informants and suspects use in a particular area.

Staff members at the drug-information clearinghouse acknowledge the list has its limitations, but say it's just one of the resources available.

The office, in Rockville, Md., maintains data dealing with many aspects of drug use, the drug trade and crime. It has a toll-free phone number, 1-800-666-3332, or can be reached via the Internet: gopher ncjrs.aspensys.com.

------------------ Drug-related terms ------------------

Here are examples from the Drugs & Crime Data Center & Clearinghouse list:

Drug term Translation

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Abe $5 worth of drugs

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Atom bomb Marijuana and heroin

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B-40 Cigar laced with marijuana

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and dipped in malt liquor

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Belushi Cocaine and heroin

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Bingo To inject a drug

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Boxed In jail

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Cocoa puff To smoke cocaine and marijuana

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Dollar $100 worth of drugs

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Dog food Heroin

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Feed bag Container for marijuana

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Flamethrowers Cigarette laced with cocaine

and heroin

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Go into a sewer To inject a drug

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God's medicine Opium

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Hotcakes Crack cocaine

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Jet fuel PCP

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Kibbles & Bits Small crumbs of crack

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Lightning Amphetamine

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Potato chips Crack cut with benzocaine

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Rocks of hell Crack

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Sam Federal narcotics agent

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Weightless High on crack

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Woolah Hollow cigar filled with marijuana

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and crack

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Zoomers Persons who sell fake crack

and then flee

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