Drug Slang Is Positively Stupid

[jazzmetalguitar]

SWIM has always felt this way and sort of wonders if he is the only one. SWIM absolutely depises drug slang with every ounce of his body. SWIM has never insufflated some speed, parachuted some molly, shot some smack, or smoked dat dope. However, SWIM does on occasion consume responsible amounts of dextroamphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine, marijuana (although not at all anymore), and a few other drugs. Half of the slang sounds inaccurate and stupid to SWIM. He doesn't think he feels ecstacy from MDMA, rather a bit empathogenic, or more often he feels what he knows as a serotonergic effect.

So, when one of SWIM's friends walk up to him and said he smoked some "ice" last night, SWIM instantly becomes boggled at whether he means methamphetamine or 4-methyl-aminorex. And when SWIM asks, his less knowledgable friend looks at him like he made 4MA up or something.

One gets the jist. If SWIY agrees, give me comfort, and tell me your most hated drug slang.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	good points but a little hidden the more emotional / personal aspects of your post. but this post opened up an interesti...
	this is literally the dumbest thread I've read on this entire forum - I'm surprised someone like you even knows anyone w...
	Finally someone brings up how idiotic these terms are getting! Interesting topic

[RaverHippie]

I agree. I believe the use of slang is perpetuated due to many people probably feel insecure about talking about drugs in public so they make up more comfortable words so that the thing they are uncomfortable and can be put off as less harmful to you since you aren't using the real name of the drug to yourself.

(hard to express thoughts into words at this point.)

[jazzmetalguitar]

Great point. SWIM never considering the comfort factor but it is certainly true that people are more comfortable with something like Ecstacy (even though tons even shun that) than MDMA or even worse 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine. Chemistry is the most feared of sciences by the average person too.

[candy_kid]

swim's friend who popped ecstacy twice a day for a few months a while back (heavily acquainted with it) was trying to talk to him about it- I guess she wanted to impress him by using the official term or whatever but kinda messed that one up when she said "kinda like mmda right?"

personally, when I'm talking about drugs I use the slang to differentiate the substance sold on the street from the chemical. For example, I called the mdma swim got from a chemist a while back mdma, but when he does the tablets with who knows what in them (although swim does use a tester kit to attempt safety) I refer to them as ecstacy. To me ecstacy is a mystery pill that hopefully contains mdma, ice is a mystery substance that is hopefully methamphetamine etc. Cocaine is the exception, where its a mystery pretty well no matter what

[jazzmetalguitar]

Great perspective candy_kid. SWIM also often refers to the pills as X, he supposes, rather than MDMA because often they aren't MDMA.

[raven3davis]

SWIM likes slang and likes to hear what people from different regions call different drugs. There are a lot of reasons someone would want to use slang. Sometimes its necessary to know the slang to get the drug.

Try asking someone if they have any methylenedioxymethamphetamine?
Most dealers know and prefer slang. You have to remember, most drug users don't know the full name of the substances they are ingesting. More power to you if you know the full chemical name, but slang is standard.

[jazzmetalguitar]

SWIM agrees also that it is a necessary part of drug culture, although probably just because it was easier and SWIM doesn't really like "the easy way out." Understandably also, the slang could interest someone just as foreign languages interest SWIM. However, for some reason SWIM just associates it with ignorance and finds it jumbled and misdirected for the most part.

[Metomni]

My penguin strongly dislikes drug slang for one major reason: it promotes poor education and a more relaxed view of drug use among the general population.

For example, when my penguin initially became very interested in diphenhydramine and DXM he read up about them. He learned what they were, what they did, what they were contained in, long term effects, the whole gambit. Alternatively, he has seen other penguins simply think, "Hey, let's robotrip!" or, "Hey, let's take 2 dozen benadryl and see what happens."

Now, this is not the greatest example, but I hope it gets my penguin's idea across. When thought of as a mind altering chemical with both disadvantages and advantages, drugs are taken much more seriously. When thought of as "dope" or "smack" or any lingo for any drug, the thought processes surrounding drug use change, and most likely for the worse.

I would go almost as far as to say that drug slang promotes a dangerous mindset where overdose and carelessness become more prevalent. This is purely anecdotal speculation, but it seems more than plausible.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Very well put.

[Benga]

Originally Posted by Metomni

My penguin strongly dislikes drug slang for one major reason: it promotes poor education and a more relaxed view of drug use among the general population.

For example, when my penguin initially became very interested in diphenhydramine and DXM he read up about them. He learned what they were, what they did, what they were contained in, long term effects, the whole gambit. Alternatively, he has seen other penguins simply think, "Hey, let's robotrip!" or, "Hey, let's take 2 dozen benadryl and see what happens."

Now, this is not the greatest example, but I hope it gets my penguin's idea across. When thought of as a mind altering chemical with both disadvantages and advantages, drugs are taken much more seriously. When thought of as "dope" or "smack" or any lingo for any drug, the thought processes surrounding drug use change, and most likely for the worse.

I would go almost as far as to say that drug slang promotes a dangerous mindset where overdose and carelessness become more prevalent. This is purely anecdotal speculation, but it seems more than plausible.

I couldn't agree more.
When written, in discussions such as this forum's, use of slang hinders access to information, archiving, making it harder for people to search the forum. Not to mention that this forum and / or the internet is an international setting, and slang has a tendency to quickly become local, leading to further confusion...

But much more than this, education, real education about substances and substance use, their positive and negative aspects and effects, is one of the keys out of the current political and social situation. One could make a parallel with sex and sexual education, what it was and what in a way still is. It is important that people have access to precise words, rather than slang, metaphors and the like - which are far from neutral. And their use over others is also significative. Sure, we use slang for familiarity and fun, but also for darker fear and oppression related reasons, to show we're "in the know", to affirm what we think about something, our views, because it's shameful, shouldn't be understood, so others won't know...
reasons are numerous but, also far from innocent, as the choice of language rarely is...

think about the slang words for sexual organs, what they represent, and keep in mind that some people know only these, what this means and implies about societal views. People should be able to speak how they choose to, sure, but should also be aware of what their choices imply.

Really, precision is knowledge and knowledge is power.

As I previously wrote, real education, information, knowledge and precision are key elements in trying to change prohibitionist views. In a way, by using using precise words, one is sharing knowledge, and taking a stand against misinformation.

most people here would know that GHB is short for gamma-hydroxybutyrate, but a lot of people around the world would only know this substance as "the date rape drug" for instance. What does this mean ? What does it mean when a "journalist" chooses to title his paper using such slang / metaphor ? What does it mean when one uses slang in D.F. ? Questions to keep in mind.
Are substance-positive "slang" such as Liquid X or whatever be ok but substance-negative slang such "the date rape drug" so different ? Both misinform, in a different way, sure, but both do jeopardize the chances of having a level headed assessment of GHB and GHB use. Slang, especially in written form, does have an obscuratist feel which in my opinion the current political and social situation impels us to fight against.

i'm not saying that everything should be written out close to their scientific taxinomy latin / greek or IUPAC form, and also think abbreviations and acronyms are ok, because they're usually clear - especially if one has given the proper- as "neutral / scientific as possible" name once before in writing to avoid ambiguity...
Common names such as coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, khat or others are also ok because they so heavilly socially normalised that one would rarely face ambiguity, but even then at times it helps to go in there and aim for precision in speech, for the exactly the same reasons...


In a similar fashion, I think the same way for the overuse of vernacular appelations, especially without naming the substance or plant refered to, as this is so often the case with ethnobotanicals causing a lot of confusion, or use of brand names for commercially available products, without stating what is refered to ( even more problematic in an international context such as ours).
To a certain extent, i also feel that the concept of "drugs" itself is quite complex, hard to define and easily biased, which is why i prefer to speak of substances rather than "drugs", as there is little in common between coffee and L.S.D.

(spoken) slang can be fun, I don't think it is necessarily "positively stupid", but in a tense political situation like the one underlying the current state of substance use legislations, one should be particularly aware of the implication and reasons behind use of slang... and that in written form it should really be avoided.


b

[Pseudo-leipä]

Originally Posted by Metomni

My penguin strongly dislikes drug slang for one major reason: it promotes poor education and a more relaxed view of drug use among the general population.

For example, when my penguin initially became very interested in diphenhydramine and DXM he read up about them. He learned what they were, what they did, what they were contained in, long term effects, the whole gambit. Alternatively, he has seen other penguins simply think, "Hey, let's robotrip!" or, "Hey, let's take 2 dozen benadryl and see what happens."

Now, this is not the greatest example, but I hope it gets my penguin's idea across. When thought of as a mind altering chemical with both disadvantages and advantages, drugs are taken much more seriously. When thought of as "dope" or "smack" or any lingo for any drug, the thought processes surrounding drug use change, and most likely for the worse.

I would go almost as far as to say that drug slang promotes a dangerous mindset where overdose and carelessness become more prevalent. This is purely anecdotal speculation, but it seems more than plausible.

SWIM would like to strongly contest this sentiment! SWIM wouldn't dream of doing a drug without fully researching it as SWIY said SWIY would. However, SWIM does rather like to indulge in drug slang. Rather than finding it "cool" SWIM finds it in parts hilarious and in parts intriguing. SWIM is pretty much enthralled by the whole drug culture.

What is truly stupid is how, apparently, ignorant non-drug users call marijuana "dope", while actual drug users, the people in the know, use the term "dope" to refer to heroin. SWIM just avoids that term altogether. He wishes everyone did, because half the time he doesn't know which drug people are referring to.

[SnakePlissken]

SWIM generally does not mind drug slang, but agrees that it helps to promote poor education. That is why anybody using drugs should take the initiative to educate themselves.

It may be perpetuated because people feel insecure talking about drugs in public, but SWIM thinks that there are many others who would oppress or treat differently somebody who was a drug user or even just knowledgeable about drugs. So in that sense, it does serve a purpose. But what seems silly is the outrageous number of slang words. 20 different slang words for a single drug is excessive.

[Stiney]

I am kind of spilt on this topic. On the one hand I can't help but grind my teeth over slang because, for example I have heard the word Molly being used to describe MDMA, Methamphetamines and Mescaline within the same location which could potentially lead to some absalute disasters. I have also heard of people actually dipping ciggerettes in formaldahyde and smoking then due to the slang term embalming fluid being used for PCP.

But then on the other hand I do like the engenuity, creativity and sometimes almost what I would describe as poetry of alot of drug slang. For instance I have heard people refer to being high on cocaine as being "Deathwished", because of that film Death Wish with Charles Bronson. Charles Bronson - Charles - Charlie - Cocaine and again refering to being high on coke as being "In politics", because there has been a few scandals in the last couple of years with politicians getting caught doing coke. So "Ahh buddy you have to come over to Mikes house, we got some lovely coke, we're all in politics over here". I always thought they were quite amusing.

[Tranquil Toad]

Also keep in mind that the chemical names themselves are just a form of slang. When MDMA was first synthesized, the m, d, m and the a were just taken from the letters found in 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, which in itself is just a name us humans have given to a group of atoms clustered together in a certain way. While I agree that when i hear someone call it molly it sounds stupid instinctively, they're really all just meaningless labels. Even the name marijuana, which most people wouldn't consider slang, has no scientific backing to it. No one (to my knowledge) is truly aware of how it got that name in the first place.

[jazzmetalguitar]

the term marijuana comes from the mexican slang term for an early brand of cheap mexican cigarettes ("Maria Juana").

[[éS]Infinite]

SWIM has a mixed opinion on this matter. While he can agree that it permits less education involved in the field, it allows discretion. While it can get to quite a ridiculous point (ex. "Yoh dude we rolled some balls on this bomb ass Molly!") an individual who is unfamiliar with these terms will simply interpret it as some gibberish. SWIM feels it is entirely up to the individual whether or not he/she wants to use these terms, but he also feels one should not scrutinize another if they choose to do so.

[Panthers007]

"Pot is an herb. Bush is a dope!" - Chant at street demonstrations and marches demanding the re-legalization of cannabis, Boston area.

[AddyCrazy]

Usually SWIM just uses them because they are shorter or the people around me don't know anything factual about drugs. For instance If SWIM has a high grade sensimillia marijuana usually he just says headies because a good amount of people don't even know what sensimillia is. Its just for the ease of it like SWIM just says shrooms instead of psilocybin/psilocin containing mushrooms. While I often despise a lot of the slang some of the basic slang like shrooms, headies and stuff like that I usually use because most people don't understand the real words.

[jazzmetalguitar]

In the same respect, some of us who are more educated on the proper terminology get lost in the slang.

[blackbastard]

positively stupid is perhaps a touch too far. the slang is as benga said a way of obscuring knowledge of whatever is being referred to. in the same way, using the strict chemical makeup of a substance puts a block against anyone without technical knowledge. both are useful in different circumstances and if swim is wise, they'll know when to use either

[jazzmetalguitar]

Originally Posted by blackbastard

positively stupid is perhaps a touch too far. the slang is as benga said a way of obscuring knowledge of whatever is being referred to. in the same way, using the strict chemical makeup of a substance puts a block against anyone without technical knowledge. both are useful in different circumstances and if swim is wise, they'll know when to use either

Oh, SWIM's drunken thread title is undoubtedly a wee bit much. Hell, even stupid.

But at least it's not obscure like many others

[Lettish]

Swim is in agreement with most people here. When in discussion with other people who are intelligent about drugs and it is a non-public environment, then Swim will use the proper names as much as possible. But in public or if Swim is talking to people he doesn't know as well, he will use popular slang (E, pills, weed, K, etc). Swim supposes it's an attempt not to draw too much attention to himself and doesn't want to get overheard by someone.

Also slang is used by a lot of people Swim knows when on the phone or SMS'ing his/her dealer. Swim knows people feel more comfortable using silly slang over the phone (or SMS) because not everyone would pick up on what it means.

[Mint boi]

The thing that irritates my ferret most about drug slang is how the same word can have a differet meaning in different regions, in Dublin if someone "scores some blow" they could very possibly be talking about cannabis as opposed to cocaine.

[jazzmetalguitar]

Originally Posted by mint boi

The thing that irritates my ferret most about drug slang is how the same word can have a differet meaning in different regions, in Dublin if someone "scores some blow" they could very possibly be talking about cannabis as opposed to cocaine.

A dead on point. A single slang term can refer to many different substances but a chemical term is the one and only. There is no confusion there, just a lack of comprehension by the majority.

[Pseudo-leipä]

Yeah another example of annoyingly ambiguous slang is that (as far as I understand) in the USA the term "pills" refers exclusively to E, whereas around me, "pills" is a more general term referring to any recreational drug in pill form.

[pinkandfluffy]

People would laugh swim me if he started using the actual long-winded chemical name for MDMA. Around his area, the chemical is known almost exclusively as Mandy. Although this causes some confusion amongst the unaware about pills/pure mdma, drug slang is useful and precise enough for swim.

He also enjoys personal slang with his close friends, for instance he calls his scales the "chillout CD", because they are disguised like a generic chillout album.