The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has updated its list of slang terms for 2018, with some amusing results. The July 2018 DEA Intelligence Report, entitled Slang Terms and Code Words: A Reference for Law Enforcement Personnel, is a handbook of slang words for drugs including cannabis, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogenics, and more. It also lists jargon from drug culture including references to sales, smuggling, and interdiction.
The unclassified handbook is intended to be a reference for law enforcement and is a lexicon of a “wide variety of controlled substances, designer drugs, synthetic compounds, measurements, locations, weapons, and other miscellaneous terms relevant to the drug trade,” according to the National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS).
NDEWS, at the University of Maryland’s Center for Substance Abuse Research, “monitors emerging drug use trends to enable health experts, researchers, and concerned citizens across the country to respond quickly to potential outbreaks of illicit drugs such as heroin and to identify increased use of designer synthetic compounds,” according to its website. The organization is funded by the National Institue on Drug Abuse.
Lots of Words for Cannabis
The handbook offers plenty of nicknames for marijuana, the DEA’s official label for cannabis. The list of terms for marijuana is longer than any other entry in the report. Old standbys including pot, weed, reefer, and herb still make the cut. Some newer entries, such as smoochy woochy poochy, love nuggets, and bambalachacha, show creativity and wit. Brand new additions to the list of terms for cannabis include tigitty, Lucas, and devil’s lettuce.
Many of the words for marijuana that the DEA lists are nomenclature for cannabis strains. Blue Dream, Cheese, Girls Scout Cookies, and Northern Lights all make the book.
The handbook also has a