Opiates are, for the most part, Schedule I to Schedule IV substances which means that they have some level of abuse potential. This is why there are so many different street names for opioid drugs. Knowing the different street names could help you understand what is going on around you and the possibility of illegal drug abuse or selling activity. It may also allow you to help someone else or even save a life.
Illicit Opiate Street Names
There are two opiate-based drugs which are illicit and not regularly prescribed as medicine. These drugs are heroin and opium. Opium is a natural opiate that comes directly from the poppy plant while heroin is a semi-synthetic opioid derived from morphine.
- Opium
- Opium is no longer regularly used in the medical profession, where for a long time, it was nearly a catch-all remedy. Now, opium is usually smoked by those looking to get high, but according to the DOJ, it can also be “intravenously injected or taken in pill form.”
- Street names for opium include:
- Aunti
- Aunti Emma
- O
- Big O
- Midnight Oil
- Mira
- Pen Yan
- Gee
- God’s Medicine
- Dream Gun
- Dover’s Powder
- Guma
- Zero
- Skee
- Chinese Molasses or Chinese Tobacco
- Heroin
- Heroin is an illicit opioid-based drug and a Schedule I substance. It is usually injected by recreational users attempting to get high.
- According to the NLM, street names for heroin include:
- H
- Horse
- Skag
- Smack
- Junk
- Black tar (a specific type of heroin that is black and sticky instead of white or brown powder)
Prescription Opiate Street Names
Prescription opiates are dangerous because they can be found almost anywhere. According to the DOJ, “Teens can obtain narcotics from friends, family members, medicine cabinets, pharmacies, nursing homes, hospitals, hospices, doctors, and the Internet.” Most of these substances are Schedule II or below as they are used in the medical community to treat pain and sometimes other issues like chronic cough.
While prescription opiates, or narcotics, do help many people with chronic pain, they are abused by recreational and chronic users and have many street names.
Street names are used to keep opiate abuse hidden and secret.
- Hydrocodone (Lortab, Vicodin) (DOJ)
- Hydro
- Norco
- Vikes
- Watson-387
- Codeine (Robitussin) (NIDA)
- Cody
- Captain Cody
- Schoolboy
- Doors&Fours
- Loads
- Syrup
- Fentanyl (Sublimaze, Actiq)
- China White or China Girl
- Apache
- Goodfella
- Friend
- Murder 8
- Tango and Cash
- Dance Fever
- Methadone (Methadose, Dolphine)
- Amidone
- Fizzies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies (with MDMA)
- Morphine (Duramorph)
- White Stuff
- Miss Emma
- M
- Monkey
- Meperidine (Demerol)
- Demmies
- Pain Killer
- Oxymorphone (Numporphan)
- Blue Heavens
- O Bomb
- Octagons or Stop Signs (because of its shape)
- Biscuits
- Blues
- Hydromorphone (Dilaudid) (DOJ)
- Juice
- Smack
- D
- Dillies
- Footballs
- Dust
- Oxycodone (OxyContin, Percodan) (DOJ)
- Hillbilly Heroin
- Percs
- Roxy
- Oxy
- Ox
- OC
- Kicker
- Oxycotton
- Oxycet
The street names for opiates are varied, especially because there are so many types of narcotics. Someone who is addicted to opiate-based drugs will often try to get any type of these, and those who buy and sell opiates illegally use these street names. Knowing even just a few of them could very well help you stay aware of your situation and also keep you much safer.
10 Issues with Chronic Pain that You Should Know About -
Approximately 115 million people suffer from some form of chronic pain, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. As the elderly population and returning veteran population increases this number grows daily. Unfortunately, there are not many ways to treat chronic pain. If you suffer from chronic pain there are a few things you should ... 
Should You Do Heroin Detox at an Inpatient Center, or Outpatient Center? -
Professional detox is an essential first step to heroin addiction recovery, and whether you require outpatient or inpatient care is dependent on a number of factors. 
Does Methadone Block Opiates? -
Opiate addiction rates have reached epidemic proportions within the past decade and continue to rise with each passing year. News reports of famous celebrities entering rehab, returning to rehab and even meeting tragic ends speak to the devastating effects opiates can have on a person’s life. Opiate addictions also carry an incredibly high potential for ... 
9 Warning Signs of Opium Use -
As prevalent as opium-type drugs have become, many people may be taking these drugs while not knowing the types of harmful effects they cause. Opium, commonly associated with the opium poppy seed plant, actually exists in a variety of forms, some natural and some synthetic. Prescription pain pills and heroin top the charts for opium ... 
Are Synthetic Opiates Dangerous? -
Synthetic opiates are manufactured for a number of reasons. Primarily, these drugs are made to offset some of the negative effects associated with natural opiates. Even then, there are many risks associated with synthetic opiates, especially in the event that a person abuses one or more of these drugs. There are times when medical patients ...